All For the Want of a (Rusty) Nail

About a decade ago, I bought a large bottle of Drambuie at the airport duty-free shop while coming back from a work conference. It was too good a deal to pass up, I liked liqueurs, and I had fond childhood memories of Dad wrapping up many a nice meal out with a cup of coffee and a shot of Drambuie on the side. 

And Drambuie, a whisky-based liqueur made with herbs and heather honey, is a darned fine sip on its own, but I began to wonder what else it could be used in and upon researching, discovered it was a key ingredient to one of Frank Sinatra's favourite cocktails, the Rusty Nail.

Like a lot of classic cocktails, it is pretty simple: two parts blended scotch to one part Drambuie, stirred and served over the rocks or crushed ice with a lemon peel garnish. It is a potent drink, since even the liqueur portion is 40% ABV, but as a post-dinner sipper or nightcap it is a genuine treat, with just enough head-loosening properties to engage an appropriate amount of relaxation, reflection or conviviality, as a situation might require.

When I mentioned my (at the time) recent pivot to this beverage to Mum back in 2014, I was elated to discover that it had also been a favourite of my father's, a revelation that delighted me to no end.

I don't always have Drambuie in the house, and sometimes when I do, I don't want to mix it with the whiskeys on hand that are meant for sipping on their own. But I picked up a handle of Dewar's the last time I was at Costco and used an accumulation of Scene points to facilitate the purchase of a bottle of Drambuie shortly thereafter, once I realized hopw long it had been since I had sipped or served a Rusy Nail.

We had company last weekend and I put one together for one of our guests, and they quite liked it, which I have found to be a pretty common reaction from just about anyone who will take their spirits neat on occasion.

Despite the fact they are served cold and over ice, the Rusty Nail is by no means a drink for a warm, sunny day - quenching one's thirst with a Rusty Nail is ill-advised to say the least! But on a cool winter's night, with the majority of the weekend behind you and a full work week only hours ahead, taking one's sweet time unwinding with sips of a vintage cocktail is an experience to be savoured... and shared, if one is lucky enough.