Burns Night: This is not your average poetry reading

Robert Burns’ poetry always rejoiced in life, regardless of the health problems that plagued him and ultimately caused his premature death at 37. “He’s not what you’d think of as a Scot from Mel Gibson’s movie ‘Braveheart,’” says Joe Brandolo. “But he was an amazing poet and patriot who was able to unite the Scottish people by reminding them of their culture: family, food, scotch, this whole celebration of life.”

Brandolo, a former whisky ambassador, will continue that celebration via the annual Burns Night Whisky Supper at World Cafe Live, during which he’ll offer a selection of various whiskys accompanied by a traditional Scottish menu — highlighted by the ceremonial serving of haggis. Celtic rockers Enter the Haggis and their bagpipes will provide the soundtrack, and they’ll also recite some of Burn’s work.

“I try to find a nice cross-section of the more unusual Scotch whiskys,” Brandolo says of his selections, a quartet of single-malt scotch made with both traditional and more modern methods. “We’ll be looking at traditional regions and styles and then showing modern expressions of those styles, how modern-day master distillers have put their artistic touch on these whiskys and taken them to another dimension.”