6 Things You Should Know About Drambuie, Scotland’s Historic Honeyed Liqueur

Some regions are so enamored with their native quaff that they use it as a starting point for other beverages. For example, Jerez turns Palomino into sherry, Portuguese producers fortify wines into port, amaro can begin with a wine base — the list goes on.

Drambuie — a Scotch liqueur fortified with honey, herbs, and spices — is no exception. Since its conception in the 18th century, Drambuie has become the emblematic spirit of the Isle of Skye, the famed Scottish tourist destination known for its dramatic, jagged landscapes and remote serenity.

Though the recipe remains a secret, Drambuie’s master blender Brian Kinsman told the Scotsman Food & Drink that it begins with a secret mixture of essential oils and natural flavors, which are then combined with honey, Scotch, sugar, and saffron. Its rich palate includes the booziness of its base liqueur mellowed by a viscous sweetness and notes of autumnal, earthy spices. Though frequent drinkers aren’t immediately familiar with the spirit, it is a mainstay in many mixologists’ stocks. Here are six things to know about Drambuie.

The recipe has royal origins.

After he and his family were dethroned, Prince Charles Edward Stuart finally returned to England in 1745 in an attempt to restore his family’s royal status. With him was a ready army and jugs full of a personal elixir that he would drink daily, believing it boosted his strength and elongated his lifespan, the brand’s website claims.

But the prince’s attempts to usurp the throne failed, and he fled to the Isle of Skye, where the royal army eventually found him. Before they could detain him, the MacKinnon family — known, in Celtic fashion, as the Clan MacKinnon — helped him escape. To thank the MacKinnons, Stuart passed on the Drambuie recipe to clan leader John MacKinnon.

Its name comes from a Scottish Gaelic phrase.

Roughly 100 years later, a hotelier on the Isle of Skye named John Ross received the recipe for the elixir from a former colleague named Alexander MacKinnon — a member of the same family that knew the secret to Stuart’s original concoction. Ross passed the recipe down to his son James, who tinkered with it by starting with a Scotch base. James Ross gave locals on the Isle of Skye a taste of the refined beverage. As legend goes, they called it a “dram buidheach,” which is Scottish Gaelic for “the drink that satisfies.” Dram buidheach would eventually be shortened to Drambuie.

Drambuie took over a decade to commercialize.

A man named Malcom MacKinnon fell into the business when Ross’s widow brought the recipe to Edinburgh and passed it on to him. Around 170 years after Stuart’s Royal Apothecary crafted the first version of Drambuie, MacKinnon and his business partner Georgina Davidson founded the Drambuie Liquor Company Ltd, and the two married one year later.

The current producer claims only three living people know the recipe.

The family-owned company William Grant & Sons acquired Drambuie in 2014, with early reports valuing the purchase around $161 million. Now, Drambuie production happens at a blending facility near Glasgow. On the William Grant & Sons website, the parent company claims only three people know the recipe — one of whom is Brian Kinsman, who mixes every batch based on a handwritten recipe kept in a safe.

It’s an ingredient in a classic cocktail.

The Rusty Nail was ubiquitous in the 1960s when it was popularized by the Rat Pack. The cocktail remained a hit and was a common choice as a post-dinner nightcap through the following decades, but it eventually fell out of favor — though zeal for the Rusty Nail endures among drinks enthusiasts. The traditional Rusty Nail recipe includes two parts Scotch to one part Drambuie, but some suggest a one-to-one ratio, offering a drier, boozier sip. Some modern iterations double down on the heartier specs and recommend four parts Scotch to one part Drambuie.

The origins of the qualifier “rusty” is unclear, but there are multiple speculations: Some believe the first Rusty Nail was stirred with an actually rusty nail, some think it refers to the hardware used to keep cases of the liqueur together in transit, and others believe the adjective is a nod to its pale yellow hue.

The spirit also appears in Celtic iterations of worldly classics.

Aside from its claim to American fame in the Rusty Nail, Drambuie is also a key ingredient in many Scottish takes on other classic cocktails, turning any already established drink “Rusty.” Some have used it to serve a Rusty Manhattan — also known as a Drambuie Manhattan — where the Scotch liqueur meets whiskey, vermouth, and bitters, lending luscious notes of honey and spice to the popular drink. For drinkers with a palate for acidity, the Rusty Daiquiri smooths out the tartness of rum and citrus juice.

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