Whiskey, highland dancers and an ode to the haggis were all part of the Scotch-tasting fundraiser hosted by the Brant Historical Society and the Canadian Military Heritage Museum on Friday, January 24, 2025.
The event was held at the Canadian Military Heritage Museum, with tables set up amongst the museum displays. Guided by host and unofficial whiskey aficionado Jeff Kempster, eventgoers sampled a half-ounce each of five different types of whiskey.
Esther Brouwer, Program Coordinator at the Myrtleville House Museum and organizer of the event, described the whiskies as “varying from kind of flavourful and fruity to very smoky and peaty, [to] kind of more hardcore as the night goes on.”
The idea for the fundraising event came from Brouwer, who used to work for the Dundas Museum and Archives, which put on a party and scotch-tasting events around Robbie Burns day. After Brouwer came to work at Myrtleville House Museum, she suggested the Brant Historical Society try a similar event. This was the society’s third year running the event and the second year it was held at the military museum.
Food was served in between samples of whiskey, including cheese and crackers and traditional haggis, a Scottish dish consisting of sheep or calf’s organs mixed with suet, oatmeal, and seasoning, and then boiled in a bag typically made from the animal’s stomach.
According to Brouwer, they sold 32 tickets to the event, raising an estimated $1,100 for the Brant Historical Society. It’s about the same amount as they raised last year. “We’re pretty happy with that,” Brouwer said, though they hope to reach even more people next year.
Entertainment was provided by a bagpiper, who played while the haggis was marched in ceremonially, and who read a Robbie Burns poem, ‘Address to the Haggis,’ before people dug into their samples.
Brouwer also did a poetry reading, sharing verses from three more Robbie Burns poems including ‘Scotch Drink’ and ‘Postcript.’
Dancers from Brantford’s Angus Academy of Highland Dance performed several traditional highland dances to much acclaim from the crowd. Dances included a sword dance, performed by an experienced dancer from the school, and ‘The Waggle o’ the Kilt,’ a dance often used to teach beginner students of highland dance and which was performed by five of the school’s youngest members.
It was a “very Scottish night,” Brouwer said, with the Scottish feeling evident in the crowd, several of whom were wearing kilts.
Seeing the event come together after all the work of organizing, Brouwer said, “it feels nice to see people enjoying the night like this and being able to enjoy Scotch like I do.”
