The Rusty Nail - Smoke with Honey Sweetness

The Rusty Nail was so popular in the late Sixties. Two simple ingredients, combined as a "build," to make one terrific cocktail.

The Rusty Nail

2 oz Blended scotch
1 oz Drambuie
Twist of lemon peel

Place a cube or two of ice into an Old Fashioned glass, then add the scotch, then the Drambuie. Just a gentle stir will give you a wonderfully “layered” drink, with the famed “honey sweetness” of the Drambuie, followed by the more smoky notes of the scotch. Garnish is optional, but most aficionados like a twist of lemon peel.

The Rusty Nail is a simple cocktail with complex flavors. Feel free to adjust the recipe to your own tastes. Like the Martini and Manhattan, you can vary the proportions of dry-to-sweet. It’s not necessary to stir the cocktail with an actual rusty nail, as Scottish bartenders were said to have done. A simple stir with a bar spoon will do.