Overview

We will have a chat about one of my favourite drinks, Drambuie. It was first produced in the small village of BROADFORD, on the Isle of Skye The long narrow village of Broadway is the second largest on the island, settled nicely on the shores of Broadway Bay, fed by the river Broadway, and lies just seven miles from Kyleakin. It stands in the shadow of the Red Cuillin mountain range, the small houses stretching for over one and a half miles on the south shore. In the late 1700’s it was a cattle market, then in 1812, Thomas Telford built the Portree to Kyleakin Road, now the A87, passing through Broadway. After the Napoleonic war, people settled here and an area of the village became known as Waterloo. During the 1800’s marble was taken from a quarry on Beinn na Caillich (hill of the old woman) and later a steam train known as Slylark was used to carry the marble, and did so right up until 1914. BROADFORD is known as the wettest area on the island, but that only helps to have a clear water supply to help produce its famous Drambuie. This is a golden coloured liqueur made from Scotch whiskey, heather honey, and a mixture of herbs and spices, which helps to give it that creamy taste, much softer than a whiskey. THE STORY OF DRAMBUIE. It is said that Bonnie Prince Charlie fled tomSkye following defeat during the battle of Culloden in 1746, and he took shelter at the home of captain John Macfinnon. To thank him, the prince gave him a recipe of a drink he personally enjoyed (at that time the drink had no name) and the lady of the house who had offered shelter, produced the drink at her home in Broadway. (See photo 4) We were told that this small cottage was were the lady first produced a drink that would become world famous many years later. At this early date, the drink was made with Brandy and honey, with spices added, and this was very much appreciated by the Macfinnon family. Later on, the recipe was given to John Ross, where he and his son James ran the BROADFORD hotel, and it was James, who following his fathers death John in 1879, improved the liqueur by using whiskey instead of the brandy. Ross now gave the drink its name “Drambuie” As the drink became better known, it began to be sold in France and the USA, so Ross registered the name in 1893. BROADFORD HOTEL. Photo 5. When James died, his widow sold the recipe to a Malcolm Macfinnon, and it was this widow Eleanor Ross and Macfinnon who continued to experiment with the drink. By 1912 the company of Macbeth and son had bought the recipe, but they soon ran into difficulty and Malcolm Mackinnon himself bought back the recipe, which he did in 1914, and he created the Drambuie Liquor company. The Mackinnon family line ran the company until 2014, when the company was then sold to William Grantvand sons, in September 2014 for about £100.000 million pounds. Quite an achievement from a little known recipe, brewed in BROADFORD Inn (now a hotel to become known as a world wide liqueur. ========================================= Photo 6 It’s now time to leave our tour around the aisle of Skye, so we took our last look at Cliffe house, Photo 7 and joined our fellow passengers ready to depart, and make the long journey back to Edinburgh. We have a lovely day ahead of us though, and will take this journey up on our next review as we headed towards Fort Augustus on the shore of Loch Ness.

Transport & Parking

BROADFORD is so small there isn’t really much parking needed, but of course you could use the BROADFORD hotel for a rest

Access

Toilets

Staff

Photos