Rusty Nail Recipe
Two bottles, one stir, and a drink that has warmed Scottish pubs and Manhattan supper clubs for a century. The Rusty Nail pairs blended Scotch with honeyed Drambuie for a slow-sipping cocktail that tastes like caramel, heather, and smoke.
Ingredients
- 2 ozblended Scotch whisky
- 0.75 ozDrambuie
- 1 dashorange bitters (optional)
Garnish
- Lemon twist (expressed over the top)
Equipment: Mixing glass, bar spoon, jigger, channel knife or peeler, rocks glass, large ice cube
Method
- Chill a rocks glass by filling it with ice and water, or place it in the freezer while you build the drink.
- Add the blended Scotch, Drambuie, and optional dash of orange bitters to a mixing glass filled with ice.
- Stir for 20 to 30 seconds until the outside of the glass is cold and frosted.
- Discard the chilling ice from the rocks glass and add one large cube.
- Strain the cocktail over the cube, express a lemon twist over the surface, and drop it in.
About the Rusty Nail
The Rusty Nail is one of the few classic cocktails built on Scotch, and its history runs through the mid-20th century. Drambuie, the honeyed golden liqueur made in Scotland from a recipe tied to the Jacobite rising, was already a popular whisky companion when bartenders began pairing it with blended Scotch in the 1930s and 1940s. The name appears in print by the 1960s, and the drink became a fixture of Manhattan steakhouses and Rat Pack era bars, where a two-ingredient cocktail with real backbone fit the room.
Nailing it comes down to balance and temperature. Use a blended Scotch with some malt character rather than a light, grain-forward bottle, and keep the ratio near two to one so the Drambuie sweetens without taking over. Stir, do not shake, and serve it cold over a single large cube so the drink dilutes slowly. A lemon twist brightens the honey and smoke; skip it if you want the older, sweeter style.
- A 2 to 1 Scotch to Drambuie ratio is the modern standard; go 3 to 1 if you want a drier, more whisky-forward pour.
- Choose a blended Scotch with visible malt content, since honey and heather notes in the liqueur need something to push against.
- One large ice cube melts slower than cubed ice and keeps the drink from turning watery halfway through.
- Drambuie is sweet, so serve this as an after-dinner drink rather than an aperitif.
Get the bottles delivered
Order online for same-day or next-day Long Island delivery, free curbside pickup in Commack, or nationwide shipping where it is legal. You must be 21 or older.
