MOUNTLAKE TERRACE – History remembers Scotland’s most iconic bard as a poet, a songwriter, a ladies’ man and a farmer.
Robert Burns, who died in 1796, also had a thing for scotch whisky.
Hundreds of people from Snohomish County and surrounding areas gathered at the Nile Shrine Center in Mountlake Terrace on Saturday to remember Burns, whose Jan. 25, 1759, birthday is celebrated worldwide.
Clad in suits, dresses and kilts, the birthday-party guests honored Burns with Scottish dancing and a feast following a couple hours of Scotch whisky tasting.
“He was such a prolific poet, and he was a well-known Freemason,” said Carl Alexander, general secretary for Seattle Scottish Rite of Free Masonry.
The whisky tasting occurred in a small room down the hall from the dining room. The smell of scotch drifted into the hallway. Amid the chatter inside, several bottles ranging from $30 to $250 apiece lined tables, sorted according to the various distilling regions of Scotland.
Andrew Dean, 39, of Bellevue sampled scotch from two bottles that would normally retail for between $50 and $60. He said he prefers whisky that has a smoky flavor.
“It was a good event, and a good opportunity to try different scotches without having to buy whole bottles,” Dean said.
Don Wertman, 38, helped serve whisky. He also spent $10 to sample scotch from a $250 bottle he’d kept an eye on. He said it had a pleasurable, oak-flavored taste. He waited until the whisky’s sensation was gone from the back of his throat before downing a cleansing glass of ice water.
“When it’s that expensive, you try to take advantage of that lingering flavor,” Wertman said.
The event was co-sponsored by Caledonian &St. Andrews Society, Seattle Scottish Rite of Free Masonry, Alba Lodge No. 315, and Nile Shrine.
The whisky tasting was a fitting tribute to Burns, event emcee Joe MacIntyre said. He read one of the bard’s poems titled “Address to the Unco Guid, or the Rigidly Righteous.”
The poem’s message is hold close the people who will raise a glass with you, laugh with you and cry with you, MacIntyre said.
“He was a careful observer of human character, and he could convey that in a way that conveyed seriousness and levity at the same time,” he said.
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
