044 – Rusty Nail

A Sydney Covid ‘lock-down’ exploration of the ‘Rusty Nail’ cocktail.

Lock-down has inspired me to explore this famous cocktail, a simple to make cocktail for Whisky aficionados.

Make your own ‘mix-at-home’ #Locktail the ‘Rusty Nail’, with a 1937 nod to the inclusion of Bitters.

METHOD – Build in the glass. Over a large cube or sphere of ice (unless you would like a ‘Straight Nail’ neat), add 30ml Drambuie, 60ml Scotch Whisky, and 3-dashes of Fee Brothers’ Black Walnut Bitters (added to bring this back to the original 1937 ‘B.I.F.’ cocktail that had unnamed Bitters included). Stir and serve with the option to included lemon or orange peel garnish).

HISTORICAL NOTES – Drambuie claims a 1746 heritage, connected to Price Charles Edward Stuart’s failed Jacobite rising and defeat at the Battle of Culloden, a very important moment in Scottish and English history, politics, religious and cultural relations.

Whether the Drambuie origin story is true is in many ways irrelevant. The production history was unrecorded until the late 1800’s and remained private and in small non-commercial quantities until James Ross changed the base spirit from Brandy to Scotch Whisky in the 1880’s.

The family were forced, through financial difficulties, to sell the recipe and eventually the name between 1908 and 1912. Then another ownership change occurred in 1914, with Malcolm MacKinnon setting up ‘The Drambuie Liqueur Company Limited’ three weeks before the outbreak of World War One. During both World Wars, Drambuie was shipped to the Officers’ Messes of United Kingdom Highland Regiments serving overseas.

The combination of Drambuie and Scotch Whisky may have existed earlier, however the first known appearance of the cocktail was at the British Industries Fair in 1937 at its home in Birmingham, England. For two weeks every year from the 1920’s until 1957, the B.I.F. was the most visited attraction in England, often officially opened by members of the Royal Family. In 1937, the ‘B.I.F. Cocktail’ was introduced, made from Scotch Whisky, Drambuie and Bitters.

The cocktail would lose favour in England, but it’s popularity grew in the USA, with the combination appearing under many different names, including the ‘B.I.F.’, ‘Mig21’, ‘Knucklehead’ and ‘D&S’, as well as the ‘Rusty Nail’. It was a favorite cocktail of the ‘Rat Pack’, including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. during the 1960’s.

In 1963, Drambuie Chairman Gina MacKinnon OBE (1884–1973), the powerhouse behind the brand’s success, endorsed the ‘Rusty Nail’ as the correct name for this well known cocktail, removing confusion that had previously existed. Becoming Chairman in 1945 when her husband Malcolm MacKinnon died, Gina was a globetrotting promotional genius, traveling with her own Bagpipers and creating a sense of mystery around the product, including a tradition that the recipe would only pass to a single female member of the family. Passing it to her own daughter-in-law when she retired.

Drambuie was purchased by William Grant & Sons in 2014, the owners of other brands including Hendrick’s, Monkey Shoulder, Sailor Jerry, Glenfiddich, Tullamore Dew and of course Grants.

THE OFFICIAL MIX – The ‘Rusty Nail’ is one of only 33-cocktails included on the International Bartender Association’s (IBA) ‘The Unforgettables’ official cocktail list, here. The recipe calls for 45ml Scotch Whisky, 25ml Drambuie, built in the glass with ice and garnished with lemon zest.

TASTING NOTES – This is a cocktail for Whisky fans, some recipes call for as much as an even quantity of Drambuie, making a over-sweet drink. It is more commonly 2-parts Whisky to 1-part Drambuie and at that mix, the honey, spices and syrup of the Drambuie is well balanced by the Scotch. A very alcohol forward drink, the taste will vary significantly by your choice of Whisky.

LOCKTAIL CHANGES – I have gone with the 2-parts Whisky and 1-part Drambuie and also added back some bitters, returning to the B.I.F. recipe from 1937 at the British Industries Fair. The type of Bitters is unknown, so I have selected Fee Brothers’ Black Walnut Bitters, as the taste goes incredibly well with the rest of the combination.

I have also used ‘Vat 69’ for the Whisky, mostly because I was gifted this old (circa 1970’s) bottle along with a Drambuie of similar bottle age and wanted to use them together, and also because it is specifically called for in William Tarling’s 1937 recipe above. Really choose the Whisky based on your own preference or supplies.

YOUR LOCKTAIL EXPERIENCE – If you’d rather taste than read, I am progressively building an ingredient list and other sourcing information on this site. I will re-use ingredients where I can (good for my budget too), so that the cost goes down overtime if you are ‘playing at home’. Sorry that this mix may have broken the rules on ingredient ‘re-use’.

Let me know what you think.

Cocktails you’d like reinvented.

Recipes you’ve tried and your ‘score’.

This is the fourth cocktail of the 1931-1940 bracket of ‘Locktail’ remixes. Full list in the index.