the.com/dram
a unit so small it exists mostly to make whisky sound civilized
means A dram is a small drink of whisky or spirits, or, more technically, a tiny unit of weight or liquid measure.
from It comes from the Greek 'drachma,' a coin and a weight, which traveled through Latin 'dragma' and Old French 'drame' into English. The same root that once weighed silver coins ended up measuring out a modest pour of whisky — money and medicine both shrunk into a swallow.
- weight
- originally 1/16 of an ounce, apothecary-style
- greek roots
- descends from drachma, an ancient coin
- scotch slang
- a vague pour with no legal size
- fluid version
- about an eighth of a fluid ounce
- dwindling
- once weighed coins and dosed medicine alike
macallan 1926 — scottish single malt whisky sold for £1.9 million at auction in 2018, world's most expensive bottle
dalmore king alexander iii — highland single malt priced at £20,000 per bottle, known for rare 64-year-old expressions
bowmore 1957 — islay whisky aged 40+ years, one of the rarest drams from scotland's oldest distillery