What whisky pairs well with Cullen Skink?

Sharing whisky with friends was how Larkfire started and Burns Night was always an event where many of us got together. Part of the evening was a discussion (sometimes heated) about matching whisky with the food. Our amateur efforts at matching often brought that dreaded tasting note ‘interesting’ or ‘challenging’ so we thought we would do something different this year. 

We asked a few experts.

The whisky industry is full of friendly experts who also happen to know their Cullen from their Clootie. We asked a few in the industry to give us their opinion on matching with the classic Burns supper of Cullen Skink followed by Haggis.

As you might expect with whisky everyone had a different opinion…

We will keep you on tenterhooks until next blog for the Haggis pairings, this week it’s all about the starter. Needless to say, a little wild water (hint hint) will open up your dram and allow a longer drink that matches better with food.

We start with a couple of retailers. First up is Archie McDiarmid, the manager at Luvians in St Andrews.

(If you want more information about the people or whiskies click the pictures or the links.)

Our next view is from Mike Lord, owner of the most excellent Whisky Shop at Dufftown.

The creator of The Whisky Club Birmingham Amy Seton chooses a distillery that we haven’t tried (and now want to)

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Billy Abbott from The Whisky Exchange has been generous and given us two recommendations. The Speyside 10 would be a lovely gift and isn’t bad value at all…

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Our good friend Dan from the Summerton Whisky Club suggested a bourbon cask.

For the Cullen Skink I would go for a sweeter whisky to pair with the haddock, I think a bourbon cask aged bottle would be perfect.

Matt Chambers from Whisky for everyone has gone for the locality! Clever…

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Mitch Bechard from Coppercairn has chosen a distillery we are big fans of.

This is a tough one as I have had many variants of this dish with various levels of smokiness. I personally stay away from pairing smoke with smoke. Classic example of this is when I am talking cigars, I will always go for an unpeated whisky to bring more depth to the pairing. This rule is the same for Cullen Skink. I would look for a softer characteristic in the whisky.

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We would love to find some themes here but frankly there are some quite large differences in opinion. There is a move towards a sweeter, lighter whisky but some have chosen Marsala and Sherry and others have chosen Bourbon to get the softness.

The Haggis is an easier dish to match (frankly most whisky goes with it!) but look out for the next blog and more pairings.

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What whisky pairs with Haggis and pleases Granny Flo?

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Whisky glass review. Four glasses put to the test...