Loch Lomond

Scotch and Drambuie make a natural partnership here, with dry vermouth adding crispness to cut through the honeyed richness -- Scotland in a glass.

The Loch Lomond cocktail takes its name from Loch Lomond — the largest freshwater loch in Great Britain by surface area, at approximately 71 square kilometers, located on the boundary of the Scottish Highlands and Lowlands in Stirling and Argyll and Bute. The loch, which reaches a maximum depth of 190 meters at its northern end while being considerably shallower in the south, was designated the center of Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park when the park was established in 2002 as Scotland's first national park. The loch's name entered global cultural consciousness partly through the traditional Scottish song Loch Lomond, whose origins are disputed but whose melody and refrain about the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond have been reproduced internationally. The cocktail combines Scotch whisky with Drambuie and dry vermouth — a specifically Scottish spirit combination, as Drambuie is a Scotch whisky-based liqueur flavored with heather honey, herbs, and spices whose recipe the Mackinnon family claims descends from a formula associated with Bonnie Prince Charles Edward Stuart, and whose commercial production began in Edinburgh around 1910 before the brand was acquired by William Grant & Sons.