Up until last night’s fabulous Burns Night event at the well stocked and classy Salt Bar, I had no idea of the awesome grandeur of Robert Burns’ poetry. But after witnessing a rousing performance of the epic “Address to a Haggis” by Burns expert Clark McGinn, I now realize just how potent and engaging the writings of Scotland’s favourite poet are. And speaking of potent and engaging, how about that Talisker whisky!?! Woo! Diageo representative, Colin Dunn, walked us through three varieties of this exquisite single malt (personally, I’m torn between the 10 Year Old and the Distiller’s Edition – I guess I’ll just have to get a bottle of each!). The Salt Bar‘s staff wowed us with three bespoke coctails: Hebrideas’ Old Fashioned, the Cool Walker and the Skye Manhattan while also providing excellent Burns Night morsels (salmon, haggis and more!) to line our tummies accordingly.

Adding to the festivities, calligrapher Paul Antonio worked through the evening making sure each guest left with a signature journal to commerate the festivities. Nice (and completely unexpected) touch! An extra special goodie bag from Talisker along with a strong feeling camaraderie cinched the deal – Burns Night is an awesome reason to throw a party!

Feeling left out because you didn’t get to come along to Salt Bar’s Burns Night celebration? There’s still time to celebrate ole Rabbie! Burns Night isn’t actually until Monday, January 25th. Visit the Talisker website for details on Burns Night events throughout the UK. And for some ideas here in London, check out these two Qype guides:

Haggis in London
Whisky Galore