The Companions of the Quaich whisky society marked the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns' birth with a traditional Burns supper for 170 people at the Albany Club Wednesday. The sold-out event, which is known as one of the best traditional Burns events in the country, featured a toast to the haggis, special whisky tastings, and a charity raffle that included a 37-year-old bottle of the Famous Grouse as the top prize.
"We're the premier malt whisky association in Canada," said society founder Ed Patrick. The Companions of the Quaich, which started 10 years ago, now has 19 chapters and 1,000 members across the country. "The Burns Supper is the highlight of the year, and this is a very special Burns supper," Patrick said, adding there was great interest in the event. "Tonight we're limited by the capacity of this room, otherwise we would have had more than 200 here."
Tenor Peter McCutcheon sang several Burns songs—including "A Man's a Man for A' That" and "My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose"—and a highland dancer performed for guests. But the raffle for the bottle of the Famous Grouse—which collected more than $2,100 for the Toronto Humane Society—was the real draw. To mark Burns' 250th birthday, the Famous Grouse partnered with Homecoming Scotland on a program called the World Famous Burns Supper Celebration.
The company produced a limited collection of 250 bottles of 37-year-old Scotch, said Marc Laverdiere, Canadian brand ambassador for the Famous Grouse. (Burns was 37 when he died.) "It's a very cool program because none of these bottles are for sale," Laverdiere said, adding that the market value is $800. Laverdiere reported that 34 bottles of the whisky have been allocated to Canadian groups. "People have been contacting us, and we contacted whisky clubs that we knew were coordinating Burns events," he said. "We believe we are going to raise $30,000 in Canada alone."
Scottish artist and playwright John Byrne was commissioned by the Famous Grouse to create an original drawing of Robert Burns for the label on the blended malt whisky, created by master blender John Ramsey. Laverdiere said that Homecoming Scotland 2009 is hosting more than 300 events in Scotland this year in an effort to promote tourism and to encourage people with Scottish ancestry to come home.
