Pairings | Haggis
The best wines to pair with haggis (updated)
I’ve argued before that whisky and beer are the best pairings for haggis but what if you prefer wine? What colour and style work best?
It might raise eyebrows at a Burns Night dinner but if you’re enjoying haggis at home there’s no reason not to crack-open a bottle.
Haggis is quite a funky-tasting meat - a bit like a savoury, spicy sausage - so I think red wine is a better match than white although orange wine, a relatively recent addition to the wine scene, is another good option.
(That’s not a wine made from oranges, for those of you who are unfamiliar with them, but a white wine made like a red by leaving the juice in contact with the skins which gives it a darker colour and a flavour of apricot or quince)
And many haggises - haggi? - are vegetarian these days. They’re not as full-on in flavour as the traditional haggis but they still have a bit of a spicy kick. What should you drink with those?
I’ve found big jammy reds such as Australian shiraz work well with the classic haggis (there is appropriately enough one called Bobbie Burns shiraz (available for about £18-22 from independents including Alexander Hadleigh and Field & Fawcett.
Northern Rhône syrah and grenache/syrah/mourvèdre (GSM) blends from the southern Rhône, the Languedoc and Australia are also good matches, especially if they have a year or two’s bottle age.
Robust ‘natural’ reds (i.e. wines made with wild yeasts and low levels of - if any - sulphur) are also a good choice though again I’d go for syrah rather than lighter gamay or pinot noir.
And as I’ve said there’s no reason why you shouldn’t drink an orange wine. It would match the colour of the neeps (swede) after all ?)
Traditionalists, as I’ve discovered from past Burns’ night dinner’s go for claret - but then they tend to like Bordeaux with anything and everything meaty. I’d pick a more full-bodied Saint-Emilion rather than a more elegant left bank claret. I personally think rioja or, even better, Ribera del Duero is a better match.
Pure carignan, which has become increasingly popular is a good partner for haggis too. I like the old vine carignans which are made by a number of producers in the Maule region of Chile under the VIGNO label
And finally I’d be more than happy to drink a Zinfandel - again, one made from old vines would work particularly well.
So far as vegetarian haggis is concerned you can get away with a slightly lighter wine though if you’re serving it with a robust gravy you might still want to stick to the above suggestions. A Côtes du Rhône or a Rioja would be my preferred choices
See also Which foods pair best with whisky
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Which foods pair best with whisky?
I’ve been a bit of a sceptic in the past about pairing food with whisky. Not that there aren’t some great combinations but I find it hard to sustain for more than one dish.
Whisky distillers are constantly trying to persuade me to the contrary, inviting me to events pairing whisky with Indian or Italian food but it all seems slightly forced. Even for a whisky lover there are other drinks that work better.
However there are exceptions and here are some suggestions, divided up by whisky style, with some additional input from whisky writer Dave Broom. You may be suprised at some of the suggestions. Whisky with sushi? Whisky with smoked duck? Whisky with dark chocolate and ginger biscuits? Bring it on!
Light fragrant whiskies with a touch of sweetness
Sushi (though whisky expert Dave Broom tells me that other styles can work well too)
Smoked salmon (especially wild salmon and other delicate smokes)
Dressed crab
Cullen skink (smoked haddock soup)
Cock-a-leekie (clear chicken and leek soup)
Parsnip soup
Kedgeree
Bread and butter pudding
Cranachan (whipped cream and whisky with toasted oatmeal and raspberries)
Soft, creamy cheeses
Medium bodied whiskies with some peat influence
Smoked mackerel
Smoked mussels
Smoked oysters
Smoked duck
Smoked venison
Duck or chicken liver paté
Seared scallops and bacon
Black cod (Nobu-style) - also good with the Japanese whisky Hanyu King of Diamonds apparently
Haggis
Roast or braised pheasant
Pheasant or guineafowl with a creamy wild mushroom sauce
Full-bodied rich whiskies aged in sherry casks
Seared or grilled steak
Char siu pork
Roast venison especially with caramelised/roast root vegetables
Rich fruit cakes e.g. Christmas cake
Christmas pudding
Mince pies
Pecan pie
Sticky toffee pudding
Gingerbread
Dark chocolate and ginger biscuits
Dark chocolate brownies
Mature cheddar
Washed-rind cheeses
Strong, peaty whiskies e.g. Lagavulin, Laphroaig
I’m cautious about these because of their powerful flavours but Dave urges you to be bold! He advocates scallops and bacon and dark chocolate (not on the same plate, obviously) with a peaty whisky, for example
Anchovy-based spreads or dips
Hot-smoked salmon
Bottarga
Haggis
Tea-smoked chicken
Mature farmhouse cheddar
Strong blue cheeses, especially Roquefort
See also these suggestions for peaty whiskies I came up with following a visit to Islay.
Bear in mind that some whiskies, especially cask-strength ones, may need a splash of water to work with food
Photograph by barmalini at shutterstock.com
Which beers are best for Burns’ Night?
Although we naturally think of drinking whisky on Burns’ Night, beer is just as appropriate a pairing, especially for haggis. And with Scottish beers like Brewdog and Innis & Gunn in wide distribution it’s not too hard to find a homegrown one.
Popular suggestions when I asked some of my fellow beer lovers on Twitter included Fraoch heather ale, Innis & Gunn original and Traquair House Ale or Ola Dubh for the cheeseboard. Beers aged in whisky casks obviously kill two birds with one stone.
If you’re prepared to stray outside Scotland a tasting a couple of years ago suggested that strong Belgian beers like Chimay Bleu and Westmalle Dubbel are the ideal match. Two dark Orkney beers, Dark Island and Skullsplitter did well too.
Here are some other suggestions:
@TheBeerCast Got to be @WilliamsBrewery Fraoch, goes beautifully with haggis - nothing I’ve tried has worked better
@goodtastefood Williams Bros have done an amazing imperial Fraoch, at 10% I believe
@R_McCormack heather ale
@timcarlislewine brewdog and innis & gunn obv. Also Fraoch Grozet from orkney brewery
@FairgroundComms as a non whisky drinker, Innis & Gunn Original goes brill with the flavours of a Burns’ Supper - whisky kick & no dram in sight!
@rowanmolyneux Harviestoun Ola Dubh
@Caledonianbeer all a matter of personal taste but Deuchars is excellent with spicyness of haggis. For traditional go Caley 80 :)
@lucychippindale how about Schiehallion Craft Lager from the Harviestoun Brewery?
@BeersManchester @HarviestounBrew Schiehallion hits just about any spot I can think of!
@ChefTimAnderson Traquair House Ale/900/Jacobite. Also anything whisky cask-aged, of course! Possibly @HarviestounBrew Highland Park Ola Dubh.
@beeradventcal Glen Garioch or Glen Spey barrel-aged Imperial Brown Stout from @kernelbrewery. Poetry in a bottle.
@BrewdogBristol Paradox Isle of Arran
@ilikeotters Dogma Scotch Ale, or Cairngorm Wildcat, a lovely malty caramel ale
@emmaorussell something from Allanwater Brewhouse - Bridge of Allan Brewery! Keep it Scottish :-)
@Kingsbarnsdist check out @standysbrewing!
@howlingcow McEwan’s 90 shilling!!
@indiespiritbath i would recommend @TopOutBrewery‘s dark abbey beer, its a cracker!!
Rose Murray Brown (@RoseMurrayBrown) of the Scotsman recommended a relatively new brewery @edenbrewery near St Andrews which you can read more about here
You might also enjoy this post I wrote on a crazy Burns Night with Brewdog a couple of years ago and find this article on Scottish beer I wrote for the Guardian useful.
Any other Scottish beers you think would hit the spot with haggis?
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