Highlights of Scotland -- Scottish Liqueurs

Highlights of Scotland

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
Stroma	35%	+	+	+	soft, nice 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.

Go (back) to: Main Scotland page # Scotland photo index

Jos van Geffen -- Home | Site Map | Contact Me