Drambuie

[Iain]

Dearie me! Mr Wisniewski has dug up the same old hoary marketing myth about the origins of Drambuie, dusted it down and plonked it in yet another article about liqueurs, in the latest edition of WM.

Does anyone seriously believe that "the Prince gave the clan his only remaining possession, a liqueur recipe, before departing for the safety of France."????

Think about it - it's just plain daft!

The poor guy (who has spent only a few weeks of his entire life in Scotland) has to flee through the heather for weeks, dodging redcoats and sleeping in caves. He has to dress in women's clothes. Then he finds saftey with brave islanders who shelter him from his enemies at great risk to their own safety and then...

he rewards his saviours with his "only remaining possession"(!!!!), a recipe for a cloying, sweet whisky drink!

Doh!

I can just imagine the man who would be king of all he surveyed, sitting down memorising recipes for whisky liqueurs!

Rather than copy out this sillieness from the company's press releases, Mr W, please do some real product research and tell us the true story of Drambuie! (and the Ross family of Broadford, who invented the product and registered the brand name!)

ps: Gaelic speakers told me that Drambuie is from the Gaelic for the yellow (or golden) drink, and it referred to the original hue of the liqueur. Anyone know if that's likely? It has never satisfied me - but then again, it has never looked yellow to me either!

[Eightball]

Iain,
I don't know the origins of Drambuie unfortunately. However, I do have some comments from and article in Issue 38- Whisky & Hollywood. It was titled "Young at heart?" I have some ideas.

It starts out by introducing panel members to discuss the question of how to market Single Malt Scotch to a younger audience. Are Irish whisky and Bourbon more likely to do so? Roy Evens from Sazerac stated, "the bold flavors sometimes prove to be much for would be consumers when trialed neat." This could be a problem if drinkers aren't aware of the magical effects of water and Scotch. As we all know water opens up a would be much single malt into a more breathable drink. Problem or not...

1. Why don't bar owners introduce whisky snifters at bars where young people hang out? I'm no marketing strategist but wouldn't this bring sophistication and coolness together?

2. How do we keep the old world culture of Scotch to the young? Let's make it sexy. The lone millionare sitting at the bar sipping his Suntory (Lost in Translation). It's hard to advertize scotch to a younger audience with the "old man in the armchair image" as Column Eagan of Bushmill's put it.

3. I think Jameson has good ads to market their product..."Rush Hour Rome" or "Rush Hour NYC." These ads show young people enjoying themselves in the midst of blurrs of people walking by. Why not follow Glenmorangie and Glenfiddich's ad's where there are people in them, not just ingredients or a picture of a bottle.

What do you think