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Times change. Haggis no longer has to contain the head, the arse and everything in-between of an animal. Veggie haggis is becoming increasingly popular with both vegetarians and squeamish carnivores. Equally, whisky has come a long way since uisge-beatha was a clear fiery liquid that was matured for days, at best, and not years in a variety of exotic casks.
If we're talking about etymology here, then 'meat' originally meant 'food'. In Old English it was 'mete' and Old Irish had 'mat' meaning 'pig' which is possibly the ancestor of today's Gaelic 'muc'.
I say all this as it seems as if some - who may or may not see themselves as 'tradition bearers' - turn their nose up at the idea of a vegetarian Burns Nicht. While Burns was a man of his time and enjoyed his animal flesh, innards etc, he was undoubtedly open-minded and content to embrace diversity.
Suffice to say that Scotland's various winter festivals can be enjoyed by all regardless of diet.
The Mac na Bracha household enjoyed a veggie Burns Nicht that included more than one dram of vegan, distilled barley juice.
To eat: Veggie Haggis - MacSweens is by far the best though other varieties can be bought and unlike meat haggis, it can also be home-made quite easily without the need to blowtorch the skin of an animal, split it's head with an axe and scoop the entrails into a mixing bowl - Hebridean life has been described to me in such detail on more than one occasion btw. Mashed Tatties with olive oil instead of butter. Cubed and caramelised neeps. Most Scots kids can remember being forced to eat neeps at some point in their childhood and may recall that mixing it with the tattie rendered it somewhat palatable. I and others can attest that cubing the offending root and roasting it for nigh on an hour makes it very delicious indeed.
A vegan whisky sauce - rice milk, olive oil, white flour, ground oats, wholegrain mustard, a squeeze of lemon juice and some Laphroaig Quarter Cask - topped off the main course.
This was followed by Black Crowdie/ Gruth Dubh - traditional soft cottage cheese rolled in oats and black pepper - some Strathdon Blue and Asda's whisky cheddar accompanied by Shetland Oatcakes.
To drink: Innis & Gunn Rum Cask, Crabbies Black, SMWS 25.62 Rosebank 20 yo, Laphroaig Quarter Cask and Whiskybroker Bowmore 14yo.
Music: Dougie MacLean - Tribute. A Frightened Rabbit EP - Scottish Winds is surely a song that Burns would've been proud of. And as the inhibitions were chased off into the January night by a sweet and smoky Bowmore, Oi Polloi's Dùisg graced the speakers.
Roll on St. Andrew's Day.
Fife is a strange place. It houses Scotland's oldest university which is also the one of choice for those who don't make it to Oxbridge. It's East Neuk is hoachin' with beautiful old fishing hooses that have been turned into potteries and galleries. The fishwives are thin on the ground these days. Fife was also the only constituency ever to return a Communist MP to the Westminster parliament. It still had a few Communist councillors until recently. It also sent hundreds of volunteers to fight Franco and the rise of fascism in '36 Spain. No reds in today's East Neuk though... Fife like most of Scotland has embraced Salmond's vision for our nation.
Fife now has its own malt whisky distillery - Daftmill - named after a quirk in the local topography whereby the Daft Burn appears to run uphill. Daftmill is actually a working farm though its relationship to the whisky industry is not a new one. For years it has sold award-winning barley to various key players in the industry including Macallan. It maintains that operation but is now operating on a 'traditional' basis. Tradition has it that in the auld days, farmers would, once the season of toil was over turn their hand to whisky distilling during the winter months. This is the plan for Daftmill anyway.
Daftmill started distilling in 2005. The oldest whisky currently maturing is 4 years old. Fine stuff it is too. Most of it is in first fill bourbon casks though there are some sherry around. Some new distillers, including a certain small Islay enterprise, have due to the pressures of investment, rushed out new spirit as well as 3 year old bairns. Daftmill hope to wait until ten years before releasing the fruits of their labour onto the market.
The setting for this farm distillery is superb. A large millpond is visible on the approach to the farm steading. Various old buildings have been redeveloped and now house washbacks and stills. An auld byre now acts as the treasury.
Daftmill don't do 'distillery tours' as of yet but a polite email or phone call to the Cuthbert family who have farmed here for six generations could result in an invitation to view the new enterprise. In the company of an interested German whisky connoisseur and tour operator, I get an indepth viewing from grist to cask sample. Funnily enough, we are told that visitors are few and far between. Surprisingly, certain well known writers in the whisky world have yet to knock on the door.
This is certain to change as the date for the first bottling gets closer. I for one feel privileged to have tasted Daftmill in its infancy.
Daftmill will be aiming to produce a classic Lowland malt, matured in bourbon casks. We're told that a Rosebank type malt is something that is aimed for. Whatever, we get the current full menu of new make spirit, bourbon and sherry. All are superb.
The sherry cask was my personal favourite though it was probably just a scrotal hair ahead of the bourbon in quality. The other two disagreed. The Daftmill sherry at 4 years old reminded me a lot of Aberlour's lip-smacking A' Bunadh. It has a full, sweet and viscous palate. There was something musty about it too - like an old library with antique leather chairs. Absolutely delicious. If I were to hazard a comparison with other drams then the aforementioned A' Bunadh would be there along with the Gordon & MacPhail 12yo Imperial and possibly even the Edradour Natural Cask Strength.
The bourbon cask was altogether different - lighter and with the expected vanilla and toffee flavours. I was reminded of a Glenkinchie cask strength that I had tried though this didn't find favour with Mr.Cuthbert. He preferred Rosebank as a comparison.
I won't bother regurgitating the history of Daftmill here - their website provides all of that. Should the opportunity present itself though, go and visit it. I for one would welcome the chance to taste a 6 or 7 year old from the cask. Its refreshing to meet ordinary Scots who have the vision and balls to go out and create something of quality. Independent distilleries are very much to be supported. I'm sure that all this fits well into the 'new' Scotland and Salmond's own vision.
Daftmill website
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