Traditionally a Scottish celebration, Burns Night dinners are nowadays held around Rabbie Burns's birthday on 25 January all over the world; centred upon their love of good whisky and Scottish culture, the Whisky Club Luxembourg a.s.b.l. invited its members and guests on Thursday 21 January 2016 for the second time to the Hotel Sofitel in Kirchberg for an evening of poetry, traditional Scottish food, whisky and enjoyment. 

A traditional welcome was given by Herman van de Keer, president of the Whisky Club in the form of the Selkirk Grace after all the guests had been piped to their tables by Mathis Kubetschek, President of the "Spirit of the Highlands Pipes & Drums Grevenmacher". Dinner was traditional and high in quality: cock-a-leeky soup, salmon and, finally, apple and pear crumble.

Not to forget the star of the evening, the haggis (with neeps and tatties), which had been freshly prepared by chef Yann Castano and was sliced up during the famous Ode to a Haggis by Yvonne Houston; then spiced with another sip of whisky, it was a perfect treat for all of the guests.

A peculiarity of this Burns Night Dinner was certainly that in view of bringing together different cultures the Ode was, as well as being presented in traditional Scottish, also recited in a Luxembourgish translation, done by the Whisky Club Luxembourg itself.

There were no guarantees that the guests understood either the traditional Scottish version or its Luxembourgish translation, but they certainly appreciated the evening's entertainment which was followed by a Toast to the Lassies. On the subject of toasts, much whisky was enjoyed during the evening in the very palatable forms of: Aberlour 16 yo, Scapa Skiren, Longmorn 16 yo and the freshly released Glenlivet Nadurra First Fill - especially this last dram got people singing along in the Auld Lang Syne, another traditional verse written by the bard himself. 

Upon request, the Whisky Club Luxembourg has already promised to keep this tradition up and organise a Burns Night Dinner for 2017, as the first event of the year celebrating the club’s 10-year anniversary.

For more details on future events and information about the Whisky Club Luxembourg, see www.whiskyclublux.com.