Tasting Notes From Scotland: IRN BRU

[buroak]

I just got back from Scotland. I would love to share notes about the UK-only tobaccos I bought and smoked, but I cannot. Most of you well know that the UK is extremely anti-tobacco. I was not able to find pipe tobacco, though some mass market EU-produced packets may have been hiding in the black cabinets of grocers, chemists, and convenience stores.

Sadly, I saw only one other pipe smoker the whole of the six days I was there. He was an elderly fellow in Portree, Isle of Skye. I did not have the opportunity to chat him up.

So, I can really only provide a tasting note about something completely different: IRN BRU. IRN BRU is Scotland’s national champion in the soft drink arena. It is reportedly a mythical drink whose flavor is impossible to define. I would disagree. I bought a can of the original 1901 recipe. My first sip screamed “Big Red!”

In a blind taste test, I wager other Americans would reach the same conclusion. The test would have to be blind. The only notable difference is the color. IRN BRU is very orange.

All in all, then, IRN BRU added to the disappointment of Scottish flavor. At least I am back home and able to enjoy a wide range of tobacco flavors.

 

[kcghost]

Who would have thought the Scottish would have national soft drink??

 

[buroak]

Who would have thought the Scottish would have national soft drink??

Well, their national animal is the unicorn…

 

[verporchting]

Irn Bru is legendary. Nearly indescribable taste, but think hyper-carbonated fizzy orange tangy bubblegum flavored unleaded gasoline with extra sugar.

Love the stuff!

 

[buroak]

Irn Bru is legendary. Nearly indescribable taste, but think hyper-carbonated fizzy orange tangy bubblegum flavored unleaded gasoline with extra sugar.

Love the stuff!

Don’t get me wrong, it was good. Also, I am generally loath to give Texas credit (they don’t need more buoyancy in their self-esteem), but their Big Red makes any claim that IRN BRU is inimitable ring hollow. It is, of course, possible that Big Red copied IRN BRU. The tastes are just so dang alike.

 

[dottlejockey]

What? All the way to Scotland and no whisky????! You were in the motherland, mate!

This is one of a few countries on my bucket list. But NOT for soda! lol



This is just what's currently opened here in the smoking lounge for whimsical libation.

 

[mawnansmiff]

As a kid I hated irn bru, I hated cola also.

Apparently 'bucky' is very popular with a certain demographic in Scotland, and I don't like that either

Buckfast Tonic Wine - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

My favourites then were tizer and dandelion & burdock, neither of which I've seen in many years.

Jay.

 

[buroak]

What? All the way to Scotland and no whisky????! You were in the motherland, mate!

This is one of a few countries on my bucket list. But NOT for soda! lol

View attachment 315712

This is just what's currently opened here in the smoking lounge for whimsical libation.

Oh, there was whisky, but not very much. I was the only driver - right hand drive with a manual not being my wife’s idea of a good time, even though she can drive a stick shift. With Scotland’s strict laws, I never risked a drink until the days was done.

I should also have been clearer. I was referring to things I cannot access outside of the UK. Scotch whisky of great variety can be had here, often at better prices. My hope was to get some Revor or Sam Gawith RB.

To be fairer to many of my ancestors’ homeland, I must add that the various local haggis and black pudding offerings were delectable. IRN BRU and the baccy situation were the letdowns.

With your impressive whisky collection, you are going to be hard put to find something really new. You might have to dig deep and pay for a bottle filled from the cask while you watch.

 

[dottlejockey]

I must add that the various local haggis and black pudding offerings were delectable. IRN BRU and the baccy situation were the letdowns.

With your impressive whisky collection, you are going to be hard put to find something really new. You might have to dig deep and pay for a bottle filled from the cask while you watch.

Haggis and local foods are always on the to do list.
My idea of a good time there is to do some distillery tours and look for special releases. Springbank and Glengyle would be my first round. There are offerings by both that would be best sourced (and maybe cheaper) on site.

 

[buroak]

Haggis and local foods are always on the to do list.
My idea of a good time there is to do some distillery tours and look for special releases. Springbank and Glengyle would be my first round. There are offerings by both that would be best sourced (and maybe cheaper) on site.

Leave off Glenturret, even if you happen to be passing by. It’s not quite a case of all hat and no cattle, but it’s something of the sort.

 

[gawithhoggarth]

Some great tobacconists in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

 

[AJL67]

I just got back from Scotland. I would love to share notes about the UK-only tobaccos I bought and smoked, but I cannot. Most of you well know that the UK is extremely anti-tobacco. I was not able to find pipe tobacco, though some mass market EU-produced packets may have been hiding in the black cabinets of grocers, chemists, and convenience stores.

Sadly, I saw only one other pipe smoker the whole of the six days I was there. He was an elderly fellow in Portree, Isle of Skye. I did not have the opportunity to chat him up.

So, I can really only provide a tasting note about something completely different: IRN BRU. IRN BRU is Scotland’s national champion in the soft drink arena. It is reportedly a mythical drink whose flavor is impossible to define. I would disagree. I bought a can of the original 1901 recipe. My first sip screamed “Big Red!”

In a blind taste test, I wager other Americans would reach the same conclusion. The test would have to be blind. The only notable difference is the color. IRN BRU is very orange.

All in all, then, IRN BRU added to the disappointment of Scottish flavor. At least I am back home and able to enjoy a wide range of tobacco flavors.View attachment 315611

It tastes like cinnamon gum? I would guess that a majority of us here Big Red and we either think of Peg Bundy or this ...

 

[buroak]

It tastes like cinnamon gum? I would guess that a majority of us here Big Red and we either think of Peg Bundy or this ...


View attachment 316079

Neither of those. I am referring to the Big Red cream soda. It may not be distributed where you live.

 

[condorlover1]

I always remember a fellow I worked with who claimed that Irishman were created by giving a Scotsman a lobotomy! Having spent time in both Ireland and Scotland I would tend to disagree. I found the Scot's to be incredibly generous, when I was there in the mid 1980s in a bar they would happily tell you that their son or daughter was married to a 'Southerner' (Brit) and what a tight git he/she was and then refuse to let you pay for a round of drinks on pain of death! The Irish from the South of Ireland were just delightful and I remember drinking with the local Garda boys until the early hours and with all of us the worst for wear getting a ride home somehow in their squad car! I am sorry to hear you couldn't find tobacco on your trip. Again when I was there you could find all sorts of tobacco by John Sinclair and certainly pre-wrapped lengths of Gawith twist in silver and wax paper wraps. Irn Bru and vodka with a deep fried Mars Bar would certainly put the thumb on the scales of healthy living!

 

[gubbyduffer]

Robert Graham have a shop in the heart of both Edinburgh and Glasgow. Great for tobacco whisky and cigars.

I used to drink more Irn Bru than I do now. It's got a flavour profile that's hard to describe. It just tastes of Irn Bru. I went travelling for a year over 20 years ago and missed it. Ended up paying way over the odds for a bottle in a Scottish themed shop in Dunedin, New Zealand.

I much prefer our other national drink these days, although Irn Bru adverts are great.

 

[Flatfish]

You can keep your haggis, whisky and deep fried mars bars.
But I do like Irn Bru.

 

[gubbyduffer]

Happy to keep the whisky and haggis. I love both. Deep fried mars bar is a bit of an urban myth though. I am sure a chippie would deep fry one if you asked, but I have never seen one advertised on a menu, one sold, bought or eaten.

I think most decent fish and chip shops pride themselves on the quality of their fish, and consider deep frying a mars bar as a bit beneath them.

 

[buroak]

Some great tobacconists in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

We never did get to Glasgow. I had found The Pipe Shop Edinburgh online. Unfortunately, they did not list any Gawith Hoggarth or Sam Gawith tobaccos. The other shops that showed up in my searches were all vape-focused. Could you recommend shops for the next time I am in Scotland?

 

[buroak]

I always remember a fellow I worked with who claimed that Irishman were created by giving a Scotsman a lobotomy! Having spent time in both Ireland and Scotland I would tend to disagree. I found the Scot's to be incredibly generous, when I was there in the mid 1980s in a bar they would happily tell you that their son or daughter was married to a 'Southerner' (Brit) and what a tight git he/she was and then refuse to let you pay for a round of drinks on pain of death! The Irish from the South of Ireland were just delightful and I remember drinking with the local Garda boys until the early hours and with all of us the worst for wear getting a ride home somehow in their squad car! I am sorry to hear you couldn't find tobacco on your trip. Again when I was there you could find all sorts of tobacco by John Sinclair and certainly pre-wrapped lengths of Gawith twist in silver and wax paper wraps. Irn Bru and vodka with a deep fried Mars Bar would certainly put the thumb on the scales of healthy living!

The Scots were all very friendly. We ran into a scrape getting out of the Fairy Pools on Skye. (A couple of young Eastern European women in a flashy hired Mercedes refused to continue down a rough one-lane track connecting the pools to the major roadways. This created a long snarl in both directions.) Kind Scots squeezed us into a corner at a restaurant to feed us in the dinner rush. Another Scot stayed very late at the desk in an Oban hotel to let us keep our room after a road closure at Fort William added a second long delay.

Come to think of it, a third very friendly Scot at Budget helped me get the cheapest possible replacement rental car after Hertz gave away the Vauxhall Astra I reserved. The decidedly non-Scottish agent at Hertz was going to “help” by putting us in an automatic transmission Volvo or Lexus for an extra £100 per day. My original total for 6 days in the Astra was only £160.

The Scots definitely lived up to their fine reputation. My mostly Scottish ancestors clearly left for other reasons than unpleasant fellow countrymen.

 

[buroak]

Happy to keep the whisky and haggis. I love both. Deep fried mars bar is a bit of an urban myth though. I am sure a chippie would deep fry one if you asked, but I have never seen one advertised on a menu, one sold, bought or eaten.

I think most decent fish and chip shops pride themselves on the quality of their fish, and consider deep frying a mars bar as a bit beneath them.

The haggis, fish, and black pudding were all excellent. I wish I could get good haggis here. I can get good black pudding from Brits, a shop in Lawrence, Kansas. The smoked mackerel I had in Inveraray has forever ruined me for the canned stuff available where I live. What whisky I did get to drink was also, of course, excellent.

Old Jock was, further, one the best Scotch Ales I have had. American brewers too often think the best way to pay tribute to the style is to crank it to 11 and create a sludge whose best quality is an ABV figure equal to a Port. Old Chub by Oskar Blues in Colorado is a notable exception.