Rusty Nail

The Rusty Nail is a very easy cocktail to make and will surprise you with it’s intensity of flavour. It is suggested that the Rusty Nail was invented in 1937 for the British Industries Fair, but considering Drambuie was created in an Edinburgh cellar almost 30 years earlier it is likely that it had been mixed with Whisky long before then. Popularized in the early 1960’s by the Rat Pack the Rusty Nail became a staple of New York nightlife in the 1960s.

The Rusty Nail started life under several different names, for many years from its inception it was simply called a B.I.F after the British Industries Fair it was created for, while its popularity grew in America it was called something different depending on where in America you ordered it. The Rusty Nail became the go-to cocktail in New York’s Club 21, this endorsement and that of the Rat Pack established the Rusty Nail as a modern classic cocktail.

The name was finally set in stone in 1963 when the then-chairwoman of the Drambuie Liqueur Company Gina MacKinnon collaborated with the New York Times to bring nationwide awareness to this new cocktail, the Rusty Nail now had a name that could take it to the next level, and since then it has not looked back.

The botanicals and honey-flavoured Drambuie and blended Scotch combine perfectly to produce a flavour profile like no other cocktail. The Rusty Nail recipe has been Trademarked to include Drambuie, so while you may use whatever blended Scotch you have on hand to make a Rusty Nail it is not a Rusty Nail unless it contains Drambuie.

50ml Blended Scotch Whisky

20ml Drambuie

2 Dash Angostura Bitters

Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into an ice-filled old-fashioned glass, garnish with a lemon zest twist.