The classic Liqueur of Scotland and the Isle of Skye to warm even the coldest Highland night.

There are legends all around the origins of Drambuie related to fugitive Princes and royal captains. What is true and what was marketing spic from one hundred years ago has become muddled in memory. But what we do know is that a gentlemen named John Ross acquired a version of the recipe from the Clan MacKinnon in the late 1800s and shared it with his son who began to experiment with it at his hotel in Broadford on the Isle of Skye. James swapped out the original Brandy for Scotch and tinkered with the other ingredients, registering the trademark in 1893. The brand was purchased by William Grant & Sones in 2014.

Drambuie The Isle of Skye Liqueur is a mixture of aged Scotch Whisky, heather honey, and wild herbs and spices — the exact recipe is still a closely held secret. But what isn’t a secret is its enduring popularity. Not only is it a very soothing dram sipped neatly on its own, but it has become an indispensable ingredient to certain mixed drinks and is the key ingredient in the Rusty Nail cocktail.

Smartass Corner:
The actual origins of the name Drambuie are unknown, but it has been suggested that it is a shorted form of the Scot’s Gaelic phrase “dram buidheach” which means “satisfying drink.”