I know many whom upon cracking open a fresh bottle of Scotch, throw the cork in the fire…

However, this hopeful ritual and opening ceremony seldom happens nowadays – mainly, it must be said, because few people still have a real fire in their home.

Ritual and Ceremony are an intrinsic part of whisky drinking, whither we are aware of it or not.

Whisky is drunk at momentous occasions; birth, death, and anything in between.

Whisky is drunk at thresholds in time, in celebration and in commiseration. To support us and to comfort us when times are hard. To celebrate and proclaim when times are good.

Whisky is taken to ‘wet the baby’s head’, celebrating the life of our newborn child. Toasting her future – offering a blessing for success and health.  

Giving succour to withstand our grief, whisky is shared with friends and mourners in the graveyard upon death of a loved one.

Scotch Whisky marks the passing from this life into the next.

Scotch whisky is present at the death of the old year and at the birth of the new.

At the threshold between one year and the next, we respectfully stand, the countdown begins; Ten. Nine. Eight…. Two. One!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  

The clock strikes midnight, we lift a glass of uisge beatha ~ the water of life – to our lips. Giving thanks to the past, we herald the future.  We offer a toast to New Year.

We drink a large dram of Scotch to toast and precipitate the Gods and Goddesses of a New Year, a new beginning.

These are ceremonial times of whisky drinking.

What does CEREMONY mean according to Oxford Languages on the internet –

a formal religious or public occasion, especially one celebrating a particular event, achievement, or anniversary.

the ritual observances and procedures required or performed at grand and formal occasions.

Wikipedia tells us  ~  A RITUAL is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or revered objects. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. 

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We also have personal and private rituals when we drink whisky. Perhaps we always sit in the same chair, looking out at the same view. We may use the same glass each time – a glass whose weight and shape is familiar to us.

We may prefer to pour with the same water jug each time,  and lay things in order on a table beside us,  placing offerings and ceremonial objects on an altar…

We may pour a whisky at the same time each evening, or, we may have our weekly ritual – drinking a couple of malts on a Saturday…

Whatever we do with regards to Scotch whisky, we can be sure we are participating Ceremonially and Ritualistically when we acknowledge and imbibe Uisge Beatha – the water of life.

As D. H. Lawrence said:

Drink and carouse with Bacchus, or eat dry bread with Jesus, but don’t sit down without one of the gods.

Scotch Whisky invites our gods to join us.