Last night's premiere of Better Call Saul taught us that Life After Heisenberg means a middle management job slinging dough at Cinnabon by day and reliving one's glory days of jarring television ads over a cocktail by night. Locked away in his Omaha apartment, "Jimmy McGill" resignedly pours himself a tumbler of Scotch and Drambuie with lemon juice, also known as a Rusty Nail, the preferred drink of depressed old men. Of course the man formerly known as Saul Goodman drinks Rusty Nails.
A+ bartending skills
The drink's origin is somewhat muddled, but Dale DeGroff notes that the 1967 edition of the Old Mister Boston Official Bartender’s Guide includes a recipe for the Rusty Nail; a similarly composed drink called a Little Club #1 appears in a 1951 cocktail book as well. Most recipes call for equal parts Scotch and Drambuie, a sweet, scotch-based liqueur that's infused with honey, though a drier version with more scotch may be preferable to seasoned whiskey drinkers.
Saul takes his with a generous squirt of concentrated lemon juice, but the most common garnish would be a twist of lemon rind. That's how my high school boyfriend's father always drank them and the same way I ordered it on an ill-advised teenage trip to the Virgin Islands. After half a glass, I imagined myself engaged in a telepathic conversation with a friend back in the States. Bottom line: they're really, really strong.
It's a drink that makes you think
It's a damn shame Walter White contributed to the death of his brother-in-law, otherwise there might have been a happier reality where everyone drank Schraderbrau.
