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Scotland has given the world a lot of beauty: kilt, bagpipes, Walter Scott and Robert Burns, wonderful musical groups Franz Ferdinand and The Fratellis, cheerful rebels The Exploited and the legendary Angus and Malcolm Young, AC/DC musicians. But the real wealth of the nation is the famous alcoholic beverages, among which, undoubtedly, the branch of superiority belongs to Scotch whiskey, that is, scotch. It is on the basis of aged Scotch single malt whiskey that they prepare the perfect Drambuie liqueur, which has long sunk into my heart.
In general, it is strange to somehow call this wonderful drink a liquor, if only because of its strength (40 revolutions). But, nevertheless, it is a liquor, and what kind. For the first time I tried Drambuie liqueur three years ago, all in the same Caffeine. It was there that I tasted the legendary Rusty Nail cocktail, which I have already written about. I was also lucky enough to attend the presentation of Marcom (the official representative of this drink in Ukraine), where just the employees of this company were crucifying the owners of bars about the benefits of Drambuie liquor. There I tried a lot of interesting cocktails with this liqueur, but first things first.
History of Drambuie: the path of the “golden elixir”
The history of the drink, as it usually happens, is shrouded in romance and the spirit of rebellion. The Scots have long been considered a recalcitrant nation that once opposed even the Roman Empire. So in the 1745th century it was not calm there, mainly because of the unwillingness of the guys in kilts to be subjects of the Queen Mother. The people of the highlands waited for a valiant return to the rule of the Stuart dynasty, which was supposed to defend the independence of Scotland. In July XNUMX, Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the rightful heir to the Scottish throne, sailed to the shores of the island, who raised a militia and went to war against England.
Handsome Charles was supported by France, so King George II was uneasy, to the point that he had to curtail the battles in Europe, commanded by his son William Augustus. The clans of the highlanders were nevertheless defeated, since there were many times more British. The prince managed to escape to the Isle of Skye off the coast of Scotland, where he had to spend more than one year in exile. In exile, handsome Charles met the famous captain McKinnon, to whom he told the recipe for a drink that kept him in good shape for more than one year. So the McKinnon family got the recipe for Drambuie liqueur, which they registered in 1892 as “an dram buidheach”, which is translated from Gaelic as “a drink that meets all requirements.” Since 1906 drambuie went on free sale.
Drambuie recipe: a mystery shrouded in darkness
Naturally, the McKinnon family keeps the recipe in the strictest confidence. It is truly known that the basis of the liquor is single malt Scotch whiskey, aged for at least 15-17 years. Also, experts in the liquor spotted saffron, which just gives the drink its famous amber-golden color. Not without the famous Scottish heather honey. Further, the recipe trace is lost – a thoroughly classified composition of spices and herbs goes into the drink. Finally, the liquor is aged in oak barrels for up to 20 years.
We tried to unravel the recipe for Drambuie and other honey liqueurs. This article is the result.
How to drink Drambuie
Recently, the Drambuie bottle has undergone a total redesign, and the company has changed owners. Liquor advertising is now very extravagant.
Despite its strength, the liquor has a very soft and rich taste, with a rich spicy aftertaste. The Scots prefer to drink the drink in its pure form, chilled or not. I fully support them, it is better to drink Drambuie warm, with a big rock, in small sips. You can also add liquor to coffee or tea, I tried with coffee – super. Of course, it was not without mixology: in almost all cocktails where whiskey is present, you can replace the latter with Drambuie. I think that the next Friday selection of cocktails will be dedicated to the wonderful “golden elixir”.
Try making a Mojito, but use Drambuie instead of rum. You will definitely like it.
And be sure to read about the types of tequila and the article about rum – you will learn a lot of new things. Well, drink the right drinks, and most importantly, know what you are drinking. Till!
PS The advertisement for the liquor is at least strange:
And this is the official video from the official website, judge for yourself: