The Scottish have many, many drinks that you should try while you are visiting or participating
in any Scottish festivals. There are a few drinks however that are on top of the list that we highly
suggest you ingest while enjoying Scottish culture. There is a little history behind most of the
drinks and how each drink is invented.
First and foremost – WHISKY: Whisky is the water to life, they don’t really care if you call it
Scotch whisky or just Scotch just so long as you drink it. Of course, unless you have a high
tolerance to alcohol…don’t try to out drink a Scot – bad idea. Scotch is 40 percent alcohol
content. There are certain brands you should definitely keep an eye out for is Ailsa Bay,
Annandale, Auchentoshan, Bladnoch and Glenkinchine. Highly recommend taking one of these
home as a souvenir, your friends will love you for it.
Irn-Bru: Translation is “Iron Brew”. This is Scotland’s carbonated soft drink or nicknamed
“Scotland’s OTHER national drink” after of course whiskey. This drink was made in Westfield,
Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshine, sadly in 2011 closed their factory in Mansfield, but you can
find this product worldwide and it is defiantly worth sipping on when you aren’t sipping on
whiskey while in Scotland.
The Botanist: This is a taste of the wild side of Scotland. This gin is going to whisk your taste
buds and rattle your brain. There are 22 botanicals that are hand chosen from the Islay and is
delinquently distilled along with classic ingredients found in gin. Recommended however that
you don’t try and make a gin and tonic from this gin. Gin and tonic lovers tend to not like how
most tonics blend with this gin so better to drink it straight up and on the rocks.
Drambuie: This is one of Scotland’s most famous liqueurs – other than straight up Scotch.
Drambuie is a heavy mix of aged scotch with a smooth local honey and warming spices. To
order this drink you can either try it on the rocks or in a heavy hitter called the “rusty nail”.
Either way you order your drink this will be a cocktail that will rock your world.
Dark Matter Spiced Rum: Now, you wouldn’t think that a rum would come out of Scotland but
since 2015 but this rum distillery. Dark Matter is a molasses-based rum that is distilled in
Aberdeenshire. The rum is heavily spiced, there is pepper, ginger, cinnamon and allspice. This
rum is absolutely delicious, best drink that you can concoct with this rum is served with ginger
beer or cola – but our suggestion is to serve it warm, this gives you a real Caribbean sense in
your glass.
Whether if your drink is a light or dark, dry or sweet, when you drink in Scotland or with
Scottish, we highly encourage you to pace yourself and to learn about the drinks themselves
before you won’t remember what you had…and drink water!