rusty nail cocktail recipe

zayas11896    April 30, 2023    Comment   

This past Sunday I was thinking about my dad, Rip, who died in 2008 and whom I miss every day. Yes, every single day. I was seven or eight when, one Christmas after dinner, I asked to taste what was in that teensy wine glass he was drinking from. He said "Drambuie" and asked if I'd like a taste. I said yes. I would eventually taste his martini, which was

. That night he handed me his cordial glass. I tasted. This Drambuie astonished with its sweetness and the way just a drop of it seemed to bloom in my mouth, an actual expanding cloud of flavor. I'd never tasted or experienced anything like it. I asked for more.

From then on, every Christmas I'd get a wee dram of Drambuie and would take the smallest of sips to let them expand in my mouth and make it last as long as possible. I come from a thorough middle-class WASP family which loved and still loves its cocktails (thus the FCH!). When my Grandma Rose, my father's mother, saw little me served a small cordial glass of Drambuie, she nodded sagely and said, "You're going to be a

Hand Drawn Colorful Rusty Nail And Old...

It was my father, who, once I was of age, introduced me to The Rusty Nail, this heady blend of Scotch Whiskey and Darmbuie, sweet and powerful. It was never a pre-dinner cocktail in my parents house—that was exclusively the gin martini. The Rusty Nail was rather the best nightcap ever. (Does anyone know why they're called nightcaps, instead of, say, The Cocktail You Really Don't Need and Will Be Better Off Without Come Morning?)

The Rusty Nail is a great cocktail, and one you really can't mess up. I recommend starting with the standard ratio, 2 parts Scotch, 1 part Drambuie. But for some that maybe too sweet. If so, add a little more whiskey. Laphroaigh was my dad's favorite single malt—but he was too frugal to use this sipping whiskey for cocktail. He'd only have used the cheap stuff. Which I can no longer bear. Some people call a Rusty Nail made with a peaty/smokey whiskey a Smokey Nail, which I kind of like.

This cocktail is always served on the rocks; ,because the drink is so strong, the dilution is welcome. For special guests, my dad would send our cubes through a countertop ice crusher (a truly vintage fifties or sixties appliance‚ I wish we still had it).

The Rusty Nail

How to make a Rusty Nail, one of my dad's (above) favorite cocktails. (A video by Annabelle Mei Adrain and Katherine Guanche.)

This is the classic proportion. But if you find it too sweet, add more whiskey! I've seen recipes that are 4 parts scotch to one part Drambuie. I'm not a fan of blended scotch, so here I used laphroaigh, one of my favorite whiskeys, famously peaty. Use whatever scotch whiskey you prefer. Change it to Bourbon and it's a Rusty Bob!Dale DeGroff is known for having sparked the modern cocktail renaissance while helming the bar program at the Rainbow Room in the 1980s and ’90s.

For decades, one of the hottest cocktails was the Rusty Nail. But after a good run, the simple combination of scotch and the scotch-based liqueur Drambuie, a word derived from Gaelic meaning “the drink that satisfies, ” has fallen off most bar menus and is rarely ordered by patrons.

Rusty Nail Cocktail Recipe

Just as mystifying as its disappearance was its appearance in the first place. The lineage of the potent after-dinner libation is contested, with many believing it was invented in 1937 for the British Industries Fair trade show. It does appear in the 1967 edition of “Old Mister Boston Official Bartender’s Guide, ” the cocktail book of record through the post-Prohibition 20th century. (A similar drink, dubbed the Little Club #1, is included in Ted Saucier’s 1951 “Bottoms Up.”)

By the late 1960s, bars in New Orleans and New York were serving the concoction, and “Have you tried a Rusty Nail?” was a common refrain. The Rusty Nail is often credited to the clever bartenders at the 21 Club in Manhattan sometime in the early 1960s. It makes sense, being that the establishment created the famous B & B—half Bénédictine and half cognac—as well. It’s easy to imagine that the talented crew applied the same formula to another cordial and , but I haven’t been able to substantiate that claim.

Lore has it that the Rat Pack was enamored with the drink, which may have been responsible for the wide appeal in those years. In the 1970s, I mixed many a Rusty Nail at the joints I worked at in New York. They were also a hit at P.J. Clarke’s, a favorite late-night haunt of Frank Sinatra.

Easy Rusty Nail Cocktail Recipe Recipe

As with lots of classics, the recipe varies widely. Ted Haigh, the author of “Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, ” likes two parts scotch to one part Drambuie; “Old Mister Boston” calls for a one-to-one ratio; and many modern versions are far drier, with some suggesting four parts whisky to one part liqueur. You could also substitute bourbon for scotch and get a Rusty Spike. But the Rusty Nail is a classic for a reason, and the two-to-one ratio will always be a fine example of the drink.

I don't like this at all. It's not the worst. Sure, this will do. I'm a fan—would recommend. Amazing! I love it! Thanks for your rating!

Just as mystifying as its disappearance was its appearance in the first place. The lineage of the potent after-dinner libation is contested, with many believing it was invented in 1937 for the British Industries Fair trade show. It does appear in the 1967 edition of “Old Mister Boston Official Bartender’s Guide, ” the cocktail book of record through the post-Prohibition 20th century. (A similar drink, dubbed the Little Club #1, is included in Ted Saucier’s 1951 “Bottoms Up.”)

By the late 1960s, bars in New Orleans and New York were serving the concoction, and “Have you tried a Rusty Nail?” was a common refrain. The Rusty Nail is often credited to the clever bartenders at the 21 Club in Manhattan sometime in the early 1960s. It makes sense, being that the establishment created the famous B & B—half Bénédictine and half cognac—as well. It’s easy to imagine that the talented crew applied the same formula to another cordial and , but I haven’t been able to substantiate that claim.

Lore has it that the Rat Pack was enamored with the drink, which may have been responsible for the wide appeal in those years. In the 1970s, I mixed many a Rusty Nail at the joints I worked at in New York. They were also a hit at P.J. Clarke’s, a favorite late-night haunt of Frank Sinatra.

Easy Rusty Nail Cocktail Recipe Recipe

As with lots of classics, the recipe varies widely. Ted Haigh, the author of “Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, ” likes two parts scotch to one part Drambuie; “Old Mister Boston” calls for a one-to-one ratio; and many modern versions are far drier, with some suggesting four parts whisky to one part liqueur. You could also substitute bourbon for scotch and get a Rusty Spike. But the Rusty Nail is a classic for a reason, and the two-to-one ratio will always be a fine example of the drink.

I don't like this at all. It's not the worst. Sure, this will do. I'm a fan—would recommend. Amazing! I love it! Thanks for your rating!