- 2 oz scotch
- 3/4 oz Drambuie
- 1 dash Angostura
- lemon twist for garnish
Yesterday I went to the Death & Co book release tour at Half Step. Death & Co is a well-known bar in NYC that was featured in the documentary Hey Bartender, and I have also never been there. I had a couple of pretty damn good and interesting cocktails that I’ll have to try making later, and the book is beautiful. I thumbed through it this evening looking for a recipe and was unsurprised to find that I was missing at least one ingredient for most of the drinks I wanted to make. I did eventually find the Rusty Nail, which is a fairly well known cocktail that uses Drambuie. I originally bought a bottle of Drambuie for some other recipe and never could remember which one it was, so it’s been sitting unopened on the counter for several months now. I finally got to use it tonight!
The Death & Co recipe uses Springbank scotch and Bitter Truth aromatic bitters. The info I found online about Springbank oddly didn’t specify a region/style, so I had trouble determining what kind of substitute to make. I eventually settled on the Balcones Single Malt. Balcones has been my holy grail for a little while now and I somehow lucked into TWO bottles of it just this weekend, and flush with this bounty I felt I could spare a little for a cocktail. It’s a little peaty but with not as much iodine as an Islay, so I thought it would be a nice compliment to the Drambuie. As far as bitters go, I am finding more and more that I probably need another bottle of aromatics. Angostura is nice but it’s always obvious when you use it. The Nail could have used a more subtle touch, I think.
I’ve also noticed that my highball and rocks glasses all have a fair amount of calcium etching that becomes SUPER OBVIOUS when you take pictures using a nice camera. Anyone know of a way to resurface glasses to clear them back up?
Awesome job!
1) let’s make some bitters! Why buy what you can hand craft, yeah?
2) Balcones is super complex. Think a generic blended would also get you good results or could you taste all the flavors coming from the scotch?
3) I think soaking in CLR or pure white vinegar would help with getting calcium off? You could also try JetDry in your dishwasher.
1) Yes
2) Maybe? I bet it’d still be a good cocktail, just not quite as interesting.
3) Dishwasher has a rinse aid and I have been using one for years. CLR and vinegar have not helped, which is why I think it’s actual etching and not just staining. I don’t know if glasses can be resurfaced, and also these are not super expensive glasses, so it may not be worth it.
Man, I’m loving this project of yours. I’m more than a little jealous that you’re doing it, since it gives you such a good reason to build a drink every night (for yourself or whomever). Also really looking forward to the Seattle stop of the Death & Co tour!
I’ve been out of Drambuie for years, and I can’t remember if I even like it at this point. What do you think: ability to make Rusty Nails worth picking it up again? I DO appreciate a nice Scotch cocktail on occcasion…
A bit of searching online suggests Benedictine as a substitute, but I worry that might be too sweet. That’s a hell of a lot of Benedictine to use in one drink. Maybe try that first and see what you think before committing to whole bottle of Drambuie.
The other alternative is to just make some!
Huh, I have all those things laying around….