FOOD NEWS
Frank Sinatra's Favorite Cocktail Only Requires 2 Ingredients
By Ariana DiValentino
Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack contemporaries often enjoyed a Rusty Nail, a cocktail made of Scotch and Drambuie. While it's not as popular now as in the '60s, it's worth a try.
Drambuie is described as spicy and sweet, with notes of anise, fennel, and rosemary. The brand claims that only three living people know the recipe of proprietary ingredients.
The standard recipe for a Rusty Nail is 2:1 parts Scotch to Drambuie, stirred and served in an Old Fashioned glass with ice, topped with lemon zest and optional Angostura bitters.
Bartenders may tweak the ratio to 4:1 Scotch to Drambuie to tone down the sweetness, or 1:1 for those who like sweeter drinks or may be unaccustomed to sipping whiskey straight.
The Rat Pack may have popularized this drink in the '60s and '70s, but it was supposedly crafted for another artist named Theodore Anderson at a Hawaiian bar in 1942.
Others say it was invented in New York in 1937, only to disappear again until the early '60s, when bartenders at the swanky 21 Club in Manhattan re-introduced it to the scene.
Drambuie dates back to the mid-1700s, so it's pretty likely that a Scotch distiller, at some point in time, thought to combine the finished liqueur with its base spirit.