Highlights of Scotland

      There is considerable debate as to whether 'liqueur whiskies' like Drambuie and Glayva ought to be regarded as whiskies at all, and we suggest you prolong discussions until the bottle in question has been squeezed dry.

      In favour of classing them as whiskies is the fact that they all have varying amounts of whisky in them, but then, so does whisky-mac (a mixture of whisky and ginger wine). On the other hand they all contain unforgivable things like herbs, honey, and fruit and ought therefore to belong firmly in the 'sticky' class, along with those dark chocolates with the centres that taste of expensive cough linctus. It can be a fascinating post-prandial [= after-dinner; JvG] debate, particularly if someone else is buying.

      Note that 'Drambuie' derives from the Gaelic for 'yellow drink', rather than 'an dram buidheach' - 'the drink that satisfies'. Scotland is full of hills called Ben Buie and lochs called Loch Buie, and none of them is supposed to be satisfying.

      The secret recipe of Drambuie was supposed to have been given to a Captain MacKinnon of Skye by Charles Edward Stewart as a thankyou for not betraying him to the English. Bonnie Prince Charlie then went to Rome and drank himself to death - not, you should hasten to add, on whisky.

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created: 27 October 1999
last modified: 9 October 2011