[3] Drambuie is a sweet, golden coloured 40% ABV liqueur made from Scotch whisky, heather honey, herbs and spices.[4] In the 1880s,[5] Ross developed and improved the recipe, changing the original brandy base to scotch whisky, initially for his friends and then later for hotel patrons.In 1914, MacKinnon's fiancée, Gina Russell Davidson, encouraged him to buy the failing business and to create the Drambuie Liquor Company.The couple married in 1915 and Gina MacKinnon became the sole custodian of the Drambuie recipe, taking on the responsibility for collecting the ingredients and mixing the drink in her kitchen.[9] About 1940, the company moved to bonded premises in Dublin Street Lane where the liquor was compounded (the process of flavouring and sweetening the whisky spirit).