Highlights of Scotland

[Scottish Liqueurs]

I am very fond of liqueurs, and there are several really good Scottish liqueurs.

Here is a list of the Scottish liqueurs (or other liqueurs based on Scotch Whisky) I heard of. Some of these I have tasted and for those I give my personal taste, smell and preference, where ++ means excellent; + good; 0 average; - no thanks; -- undrinkable. (I am not so fond of creamy drinks, but their tastes are generally quite good.)
The links of the liqueur names lead to a page with a description of the drink copied from the bottle and/or the box the bottle came in or found elsewhere.

 

liqueur name alc. taste smell pref. remarks
Arran Gold 17% ++ + ++ good whisky taste in soft cream
Brammle 23%        
Bruadar 22%        
Columba Cream 17%   ++   +   + good, but soft-creamy taste
Drambuie 40%   ++   ++   ++ excellent
Drambuie Cream 17%   ++   +   + good, but soft-creamy taste
Drumgray Cream 17%        
Dunkeld Atholl Brose 35%   ++   +   ++ excellent
Edradour Cream 17%        
Fairlies Light Highland 24%        
Famous Grouse 35%   0   -   0 sweet, strange fresh taste
Ginger Tam's 48.50%        
Glayva 36%   ++   ++   + very good
Glenfiddich Malt 40%   +   0   0 a little bitter-sweet, but good
Glenturret Malt 35%   0   +   0 good, but not smooth enough
Heather Cream 17%   ++   +   + good, but soft-creamy taste
Hebridean 20%        
High Peak 20%        
Johnny Walker          
Lakeland          
Lochan Ora 35%   ++   ++   ++ excellent
Master of Malt 37-43%        
Moniack 17%        
Orangerie 40%        
Old Pulteney 30%   +   +   + soft, not very pronounced
Scotch Apple 25%   -   0   - bit too sour (do not taste apple)
Scottish Country          
Scottish Highland 22%   -   -   - very odd smell and taste (sweet)
Scottish Island          
William Shakespeares 20%        
Stag's Breath 20%   0   -   - odd smell and taste
Wallace Single Malt 35%   +   +   0 not sweet, much whisky taste
 
Non-Scottish liqueurs from Scotch Whisky
Zuidam 40% ++ + + rather soft, no pronounced taste

 
===> Availability of the liqueurs
 

Liqueur vs. liquor

Note that I am talking here about 'liqueur' and not about 'liquor' here (source: Dictionary of contemporary English, Longman, 1988):
liqueur
any of several types of very strong alcoholic drinks, each of which has a special, rather sweet taste, usually drunk in small quantities after a meal
liquor
1.   (AmE)    strong alcoholic drink, such as whisky
2.   (lit. or tech.)    alcoholic drink
3.   (rare, esp. BrE)   the liquid produced from cooked food, such as the juice from meat
Hence, whisky (that is the proper spelling of Scotland's national spirit; "whiskey" is Irish or American, while Canadians use the Scottish spelling) is not a liqueur, but a liquor. The word 'liquor' is in this sense American English (AmE), not British English (BrE).

I am not fond of whisky: I go for the strong and sweet drinks, and in Scotland I learned about the Scottish liqueurs. The best known Scottish liqueurs are Drambuie and Glayva, both made of whisky with honey and herbs. Many people drink them "on the rocks" but I do not: I do not want my drink to be diluted by water :-)
===> entry on Liqueur Whisky in Bluff your way in Whisky

 

Rusty Nail

A mix of equal parts of Glayva (some say Drambuie) and the Famous Grouse whisky is called a Rusty Nail.
I think this is a good combination!!

Another whisky, which I received as a price once, is The Glenlivet 12 years.
As I write above, I am not so fond of whiskies, but when I get them, I will drink them ...


Several, but not all, of these Scottish liqueurs are mentioned at http://www.scotchwhisky.com/english/about/liqueur/index.htm.
I found the other liqueurs in shops or heard of from others.

 

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created: 13 September 1997
last modified: 11 January 2020