What is Drambuie?
Drambuie is a Scottish whisky liqueur with honey, herbs and spices, long associated with the Isle of Skye and allegedly made to a recipe created for Bonnie Prince Charlie.
What is Drambuie?
Before getting into the history of Drambuie, let’s deal with the simple facts. Drambuie is a Scottish whisky liqueur made from a blend of unidentified Scottish whisky (though the company’s owned by William Grant, so there’s a clue), heather honey, and the inevitable top secret blend of herbs and spices.
Drambuie in a Rusty Nail
It’s bottled at 40% ABV and is an ingredient in the Rusty Nail cocktail, which basically plays down the strong flavours of the Drambuie by mixing it with straight whisky. There are no other ingredients so if you mix roughly one part of Drambuie with two parts of the whisky of your choice then you’ve got a Rusty Nail. The recipe’s obviously flexible, so you can adjust it to your own tastes.
Drambuie in Other Cocktails
You can use Drambuie in a surprising range of cocktails, and there are numerous suggestions on the official Drambuie website.
What is Drambuie’s History?
OK, this is where you have to take things with a pinch of salt. This is what the Drambuie website says:
‘It is the oldest British whisky liqueur brand and its origins can be traced to a secret recipe created for Bonnie Prince Charlie by his Royal Apothecary in the 18th Century. The legend goes that after the Battle of Culloden, he gave the elixir to a Scottish clan on the Isle of Skye in gratitude for their hospitality as he awaited safe passage back home.’
Culloden is just outside Inverness, in north-east Scotland, and Skye is off the west coast of Scotland, in the Inner Hebrides. Bonnie Prince Charlie was trying to escape to the Outer Hebrides, so that’s the way he would go, although thanking someone for their hospitality by giving them a recipe does seem a bit unlikely. However, there’s a lot more historical information on Drambuie’s website which helps to verify the story.
The story is, though, that the recipe was given to a Captain John MacKinnon, who sheltered the prince on Skye, and the Clan MacKinnon eventually gave the recipe to the Ross family, who ran a hotel on Skye. It was initially a medicinal drink, as well as a recreational one.
They made the liqueur for friends and hotel guests, but it proved so popular that they began to sell it commercially, registered the name as a trademark, and eventually had to shift the increased production to Edinburgh. It’s estimated that when the company was sold to William Grant in 2014 the price tag was about £100 million.
What Does Drambuie Mean?
So where does the name Drambuie come from? In the absence of any better suggestions, let’s go with the Drambuie company’s own explanation. This says that it comes from a Scottish Gaelic phrase, an dram buidheach, which in English means ‘the drink that satisfies’. This is literally true, as a dram is a drink, a wee dram is a wee drink, and buidheach means satisfying, though it’s also an Irish surname which is the equivalent of Bowie – so, a Dram Bowie.
What Does Drambuie Taste Like?
At 40% ABV (80 proof), Drambuie is a full-strength spirit and not a lower-strength one, as some liqueurs are. The result is that it’s basically a regular whisky but is sweeter, thanks to the honey. It makes a good accompaniment to a dessert.
It’s a little more complicated than that, though. On both nose and palate the herbs and spices add to it to make the simple blend of whisky and honey more subtle and complex. There’s a hint of warming cinnamon, and the freshness of apple and pear. There’s some almond-like nuttiness, and the zesty aromas and flavours of orange.
How to Drink Drambuie
Drambuie is best enjoyed neat, or on the rocks, and though it’s a popular after-dinner drink you can drink it any time you would otherwise drink a regular whisky. It’s a good alternative to whisky if you have a slightly sweet tooth and don’t like smoky, peaty whiskies.
Where to Buy Drambuie
If you live in the UK you can buy Drambuie in all major supermarkets, and from Amazon. You can also buy it from Master of Malt with whipping to many countries worldwide. In the US you can buy Drambuie from Caskers. Note that there’s a new smaller 50cl bottle, in addition to the regular 70cl bottle, making it more affordable if you haven’t yet tried it but are curious.
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