This week I’m going to be mixing up a drink I’ve had on my mental list for a long time, the Rusty Nail. I’m a huge fan of scotch. Well, more correctly whiskey in general. Drambuie on the other hand, I have no idea what to expect. I’ve never tried it and actually haven’t even looked it up to see what the flavor is. Should be a great experience! For this recipe, Regan recommends experimenting with the choice of scotch to change the flavor profile of the cocktail. Since I’ve got a reasonable selection of scotch this will be a very fun week.
Rusty Nail (Joy of Mixology)
2 1/2 oz Scotch 1/2 oz Drambuie
1) Combine ingredients in a mixing glass 2) Add ice and stir until well chilled 3) Strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Comments
7 responses to “Rusty Nail”
I too am a huge fan of scotch and scotch cocktails. Depending on the scotch, you may find the recipe you gave to be unbalanced (you use a lot more scotch than I have seen elsewhere), or perhaps lacking in depth. In addition to trying different scotches and ratios, try adding lemon zest to the drink. I find it adds a nice little bit of complexity to the drink and offsets some of the sweetness in the Drambuie.
Thanks for the insight Daniel. Do you have a scotch that you prefer for this cocktail? And, for that matter, a preferred recipe? I’m open to any and all suggestions. The lemon sounds like an interesting twist as well (pun fully intended). :)
-R
I have never had a rusty nail, but the photo you chose cracked me up!
The Rusty Nail is one of my go-to drinks.
I typically go with a 4:1 ratio, and I prefer the smokiness of Dewar’s to go up against the sweetness of the Drambuie.
And by the way, I would strongly suggest building it in a lowball and serving it over ice. It’s going to get way too warm in that cocktail glass…
Thanks for the tips Dan. Much appreciated. I absolutely agree with the highball and ice. I’m finding this drink to be a slow sipper, much like a dram of scotch.
-R
In terms of the scotch I use, “nothing too good” is usually a good mantra. You observe in your later post that you’d rather just have scotch… yeah, you’re dead on. Any scotch that works well straight is something that works, well, straight. I usually use Chivas 12 or Johnny Walker Black for cocktails, since I don’t mind expending them, and they turn out fine. For a smokier taste Laphroaig 10 is a brilliant single malt, but still affordable, so it can be used. For something mellower, hmm, that’s a trickier proposition. Glenfiddich 12 would be my starting point, it’s a grossly underrated dram in my opinion (purely due to it’s popularity, I would guess).
For the recipe, vary depending on the scotch. I find with all scotch cocktails that the better the scotch gets, the more of it you want to use in proportion to the rest of the drink so that it can shine through.
Hope that helps!