Ahead of Burns Night this Sunday, 25 January 2026, family-owned Aberargie Distillery has partnered with acclaimed writer Miriam Gamble to commission a new poem marking the countdown to the launch of its inaugural Aberargie Single Malt Scotch Whisky.
Traditionally a celebration of Scotland’s National Bard, Burns Night is a moment to reflect on language, craft and cultural heritage. This year, Aberargie Distillery is honouring that tradition by collaborating with a contemporary female voice to unveil a new poem celebrating patience, provenance, and the heritage barley at the heart of its first release.
Titled Golden Promise, the poem reflects on the quiet virtues of waiting, skill and care – themes that mirror Aberargie’s own journey. Nine years on from laying down its first casks in 2017, the distillery is now preparing to unveil its first barley-to-bottle single malt Scotch whisky in March 2026.
Written by Miriam Gamble, Golden Promise takes its name from the heritage barley variety used in Aberargie’s inaugural whisky. The poem explores how time, repetition, and restraint shape what is most worth having, from friendships and love to the slow transformation of grain into spirit.
Aberargie is one of the few distilleries in Scotland to operate a barley-to-bottle philosophy, using heritage Golden Promise barley grown on the fields in front of the distillery, as well as Laurette barley from the two other family farms. Although lower-yielding than modern strains, Golden Promise is grown at Aberargie for its flavour benefits, producing a full-bodied, malty new-make spirit with notable oiliness and depth.
Niel Hendriksz, Managing Director of Aberargie Distillery, said:
“Burns Night invites reflection on what we choose to value and preserve.
“Working with Miriam felt like a natural way to honour Scotland’s literary heritage while also reflecting the values behind our first single malt. Commissioning a poem felt like an honest way to mark this moment, not just as a distillery approaching a first release, but as custodians of land and whisky traditions.
“Patience, care and provenance have defined our journey from the very beginning.”
Poet and essayist Miriam Gamble of the University of Edinburgh said:
“It’s been a real pleasure collaborating with Aberargie to produce a poem in celebration of the launch of their first single malt. Where prose’s equivalent tipple might be a pint of beer, poetry is language art’s most condensed form; as such, it not only takes time to come to fruition but also aspires, like whisky, to pack a delectable – and ideally unforgettable – little punch. Both the maker of whisky and the poet work to distil spirit: one in liquid, the other in language. In making it new, both also work with respect for, and an ear to everything they can learn from, their many antecedents on the long road of tradition.”
The whole poem is published to coincide with Burns Night and offers a quiet counterpoint to the anticipation surrounding the Morrison Family’s return to distilling after two decades. The distillery’s first whisky is a reminder that both art and craft are shaped as much by waiting as by making.
Golden Promise
by Miriam Gamble
Good things don’t necessarily
come to those who wait, but being capable
of waiting helps: the right skills, the right
water source, the scoop nestled
in the right barley. And everything worth
having, is it not, is a thing gained
in this way: a satisfying story,
or home-grown veg. The joy of dance
steps mastered, repeated till they’re worked
into thoughtlessness that swills around the room like whisky
swilling round the ice in the centre
of a glass. Friendships which are mellow now,
but still conjure up new notes when,
at length, we sit, uncork the bottle.
And – yes, a ghràidh – love itself.
Steady does it – slow, and sure – as we traverse
this life together: the way a plough horse
turns a field, the way a good dram
travels the mouth. Still learning – always –
but not changing anything we needn’t.
Learning to let alone what is thriving
in the still, bright corners of us, facing south.
Aberargie Single Malt Scotch Whisky Inaugural will be available from specialist whisky retailers from March 2026. For exclusive first access, sign up to Aberargie Distillery via www.aberargie.com
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Aberargie Single Malt Scotch Whisky Inaugural
Release: March 2026
Availability: Specialist whisky retailers worldwide
Early Access Registration:www.aberargie.com
Social: @aberargie on Facebook and Instagram
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