Yes, it's coming upon the Burns' night season and I needed to pick up some Drambuie to make sure we had some. Or at least to make sure our hosts would have some. We are going to some friends' Castle in Scotland to celebrate. They have a pretty good collection of single malt, but I know they don't have any Drambuie.
Anyway, I was rather surprised by the new bottle. The thing looks more like a Scotch bottle. The redesign comes at the 100th anniversary of the widespread commercial availability of Drambuie. The stuff was actually created 260 years ago for Prince Charlie. Legend has it that After the battle of Culloden (1746), Prince Charles Edward Stuart fled to the Isle of Skye.
There, he was given sanctuary by Captain John MacKinnon of Clan MacKinnon. According to family legend, after staying with the Captain, the prince rewarded him with this prized drink recipe. The legend then holds that the recipe was given in the late 19th century by Clan MacKinnon to James Ross. Ross ran the Broadford Hotel in the Isle of Skye. It was there that he developed and improved the recipe, initially for his friends.The new bottle was a bit of a shock, but I caught that it was supposed to look more like a whisky bottle. Not sure how much I like the change though.
