Uploaded December 2020 | Updated September 2026, 16 hours ago

---

Scotland, 1854. After a long day of travel you stop at Ambrose's Tavern in Edinburgh for a drink, and to your surprise a number of notable figures are discussing the issues of the day. They appear to be having quite the time, so you order one of what they are drinking, and are given a glass of Hot Whisky Punch.

No, the above never happened. It was however frequently depicted in Blackwood's Magazine, which contained a number of lightly fictionalized discussions between Scottish intellectuals of the day. This is what they would have been drinking.

Blackwood's Hot Whisky Punch (1854)
1 750ml bottle of scotch whisky
2oz/60ml demerara sugar
1 lemon peel
4-5c/945-1180ml boiling water

Music performed by Dan Myers
eeboymusic@gmail.com

#davidwondrich #punch