🥃 Rusty Nail

Rusty Nail is a cocktail of Scotch whisky and the Drambuie liqueur. It has only two ingredients and is served in a rocks glass with ice and a lemon twist. It is built directly in the glass, without a shaker: the ingredients are simply stirred with ice. It is a strong, slightly sweet and spicy drink based on whisky, where the liqueur adds honey, herbs and spices.

Ingredients. According to Difford's Guide, the classic version is 45 ml of blended Scotch and 15 ml of a honey-herbal liqueur, usually Drambuie. Proportions vary by taste: some use twice as much liqueur, others reduce its share. A few drops of bitters in some recipes are an addition, not the norm.

History. The guide writes that the drink supposedly appeared in 1942 in one of the Hawaiian bars, and became popular in the 1950s at the Club 21 in New York. Other sources say the name is only confirmed from 1963, so the origin remains disputed. The exact inventor is not known for certain. The name is linked to the colour of the drink, similar to rusty iron, though this is only a guess that is often repeated in bars.

Base. Drambuie, according to the brand, is made on a whisky base; in the EU a liqueur is defined as a drink from 15% ABV. Blended Scotch gives a soft base, single malt a more expressive character. The smokier the whisky, the more it competes with the honey sweetness of the liqueur, so simpler blends without peat smoke are usually chosen for this cocktail.

Why this matters to you. The sweetness of the liqueur masks the strength, and the overall strength of the cocktail is high. The WHO reminds us that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.