Drambuie cocktails.

Drambuie is a Scotch whisky liqueur — aged Scotch sweetened with heather honey and flavoured with herbs and spices — and the base of the Rusty Nail, one of the few two-ingredient drinks that improves both of its parts. It comes with a story about Bonnie Prince Charlie that is almost certainly invented and a flavour that is entirely real.

What is Drambuie?

A herbal liqueur at 40% ABV, made from blended Scotch whisky, heather honey, sugar and a secret mix of herbs and spices — saffron, nutmeg, cloves and mace are generally agreed to be among them. The name is from the Gaelic an dram buidheach, "the drink that satisfies." The legend is that Prince Charles Edward Stuart, fleeing after the defeat at Culloden in 1746, gave the recipe for his personal liqueur to Captain John MacKinnon of Skye in thanks for shelter, and that the MacKinnons kept it in the family for 160 years. Malcolm MacKinnon registered the name and began selling it in Edinburgh in 1909; the story is on every bottle and no historian has found a trace of it before then. The brand was sold to William Grant & Sons in 2014.

How it's made

A blend of aged Scotch malt and grain whiskies is sweetened with heather honey and sugar, and a separate herbal essence — the spices infused into spirit — is blended in. The liqueur is rested and bottled at 40%. A 15-year expression, made with Speyside malts and less sugar, was launched in 2011 for sipping and is noticeably drier.

What it tastes like

Honey first, floral and heathery, then Scotch — soft, slightly smoky, cereal — with clove, nutmeg and a saffron warmth behind it, and a long, sweet, spicy finish. It is sweeter than Bénédictine and less herbal; the whisky shows through more than you expect. The 15-year is drier and more whisky-forward.

Styles worth knowing

Bottle	What it is	In a drink
Drambuie	The original, 40%	Rusty Nail, Whisky Mac variation, a Scotch Old Fashioned sweetener
Drambuie 15	Speyside malts, less sugar	Neat; a drier Rusty Nail
Other whisky liqueurs (Irish Mist, Glayva)	Irish or Scotch with honey and herbs	Near-substitutes

Which bottle to buy

The standard Drambuie. One bottle, used in half-ounce measures, lasts a very long time. The 15-year is for drinking neat and is a pleasure, but it is not what the Rusty Nail was built on.

Using it in drinks

The Rusty Nail — Scotch and Drambuie, stirred over ice, two to one or drier — is the drink, a 1960s New York invention that the Rat Pack made famous and that still works because the liqueur is itself Scotch-based. Beyond it: a quarter-ounce replaces the sugar in a Scotch Old Fashioned; a half-ounce in a Whisky Mac or a Godfather in place of the ginger wine or amaretto makes a honeyed variation; and a bar-spoon in a Penicillin stands in for the honey syrup with more character. In a Hot Toddy it is the honey and the spice at once.

Substitutes

Bénédictine with a splash of Scotch is the closest; Glayva or Irish Mist are the same idea from different distillers; honey syrup with a dash of Angostura in Scotch gets the sweetness and some spice. For a Rusty Nail, there is no real replacement — use the honey-syrup route and call it a Scotch and honey.

Storage

Upright, cool, dark; indefinitely stable. The honey can crystallise slightly at the neck of an old bottle; warm water loosens the cap.

Questions

Is the Bonnie Prince Charlie story true? Almost certainly not. The first record of the liqueur is its 1909 registration; the Jacobite tale appears with the marketing. It is a good story and the liqueur does not need it.

What is a Rusty Nail? Scotch and Drambuie over ice, usually two parts to one. It dates from the 1960s and was the house drink of a certain New York set.

Is it sweet? Yes — honeyed and spiced, around 30% sugar. It is a liqueur, not a whisky, despite the strength.

Can I use it in place of Bénédictine? In a Scotch drink, yes; the honey-and-spice profile is similar. In a brandy or gin drink, the Scotch shows through and changes it.