Happy New Year, friends. 2007 was quite the year, in ways both positive and negative, but we came out of it hale and hearty and hoping that 2008 will keep all the promise it presently holds. As such, I’m cleaning out the queue and posting a lingerer—a post that I really meant to publish before the end of the year. Like many things in my life, it just didn’t quite get done in time.

Quite accidentally, I couldn’t have picked a better drink for this year’s inaugural post. For readers of Scottish descent or my fellow poetry nerds, Robert Burns is probably a name familiar to you. Even if his name isn’t, his work is: Burns wrote “To a Mouse,” the poem which contributed “The best-laid plans of mice and men” to our cultural lexicon. As it happens, he also wrote “Auld Lang Syne,” the poem (and song) we all slur our way through on New Years Eve. He also has a national holiday, Burns Night, which is celebrated January 25th in Scotland and for which this drink would be perfect.

1½ oz scotch
½ oz Italian (sweet) vermouth
dash orange bitters
dash Pernod

Stir over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

His poetic works not withstanding, this is definitely a drink I would make again. It was light and refreshing, but the Pernod adds just the right amount of complexity to keep it interesting. It’s also a beautiful dusky orange color, which adds to the experience. All in all, a fine drink befitting the bard of the Scots.