If you’ve been reading this blog for a while now you probably have figured out that I’m a fan of cocktails and booze. Please keep in mind that this is only a post about liqueurs not aperitifs, spirits, bitters, or bitter spirits although I will be doing posts highlighting my favorites in all of those categories in the future. A liqueur in the most simple of terms is an alcoholic beverage usually flavored with fruits, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers or cream and sweetened with sugar before being bottled. Liqueurs usually have an alcoholic content somewhere between 15%-30% but it is not uncommon to find liqueurs with an alcohol percentage in the mid 50′s, as you’ll read about below. For each liqueur I write about at the end I will post a link to where you can purchase it as well as some of my favorite cocktails that contain the liqueur.

# 1 Chartreuse 110 proof - As the bartender says in Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof, “Chartreuse, the only liqueur so good that they named a color after it” and dude is right. Chartreuse doesn’t exactly have the easiest flavor profile to describe so I’ll do my best. The straw green colored liqueur is made in France and it’s origins go back to the 1600′s. It was first distilled for medicinal purposes by monks at the Grand Chartreuse Monastery in the Chartreuse Mountains. The liqueur is said to contain around 130 herbal extracts which makes perfect sense as it’s extremely difficult to describe Chartreuse using singular flavor description. This was a liqueur that I was scared to try for a while because of the high-proof and high price. I purchased a bottle about two years back for a specific cocktail and have been in love with it ever since. It’s strong and distinct but in a good way. Those monks really did create something special and balanced by distilling all those wonderful herbs and the perfect amount of sugar. As with most classic liqueurs, Chartreuse fell out of favor in the 80′s and 90′s but the revival of classic cocktail culture has led to Chartreuse to once again becoming a standby in any serious bar. There is also a yellow Chartreuse that is not as strong as the original and in my opinion not as good either, as well as very expensive VEP productions of both green and yellow Chartreuse that is aged in oak casks until it reaches an “exceptional” quality.

Buy: Chartreuse for $39.99 here

Enjoy Chartreuse In These Cocktails: The Last Word, The Chartreuse Swizzle, The Bijou Cocktail

#2 John D Taylor’s Velvet Falernum 22 Proof – We hadn’t had access to real Falernum in the US for a long while until about two years back when Eric Seed from Haus Alpenz turned cocktail geeks euphoric with the announcement that his import company would be bringing “real” Falernum from Barbados back unto liquor store shelves (he’s been making cocktail geeks euphoric for some time now). Fee’s Brothers, a century old bitter and non alcoholic cordial producer, had been offering Falernum in a not so great “syrup” form for a long time. So what does Falernum taste like? Not an easy question to answer, but it uses almond, ginger, cloves, vanilla and allspice in its distillation process, so if you like all of those flavors you will certainly love Falernum. If you haven’t already figured it out, I love tiki cocktails and rum based cocktails and you need Falernum to reproduce classic drinks. It’s also cheap as hell and there is absolutely no substitute for the real thing.

Buy: Falernum for $16.99 here

Enjoy Falernum In These Cocktails: The Mai Tai, The Navy Grog, The Corn And Oil

#3 Senior Curacao Curacao 62 Proof - So many classic and newer cocktails require an orange liqueur of some sort and unfortunately most people reach for the overrated and very expensive Cointreau brand triple sec. Orange Liqueurs break down into two basic categories, first you’ve got triple sec which is orange liqueur made from a neutral grain base like vodka, and finally orange liqueurs like Curacao, Clement Shrub or Grand Marnier which either have rum or brandy bases. I find that using Grand Marnier or Curacao leads to a cocktail with a better, silkier texture. The problem is that Grand Marnier can be quite expensive, so fortunately for us Senior Curacao is not. It had been hard to find in the past but thankfully distribution has been beefed up and you can probably find either the orange, clear or blue colored Curacao in better liquor stores. The Senior Curacao is actually made on the Island of Curacao with actual Laraha orange peels, which means that it is the only real deal Curacao available in the US.

Buy: Senior Curacao for $21.99 here

Enjoy Senior Curacao In These Cocktails: El Presidente,Sidecar,Prince Of Wales

#4 St Elizabeth Allspice Dram 45 proof – Pimento Dram is a liqueur made from allspice berries that was used heavily in the United States before prohibition in a variety of tropical drinks. It of course has nothing to do with what Americans think of when they hear “pimento” which we know as those weird little red things stuffed into bad Martini olives. This is another gem that Eric Seed brought back to liquor stores shelves over the past two years. He decided that it might be better to market the product as “Allspice” instead of “Pimento” dram as to not confuse consumers who don’t know what it is. Eric picked a great brand to import, St Elizabeth’s dram is made in Jamaica by combining “pot still” rum with allspice berries to create a spicy and rich, exquisite and unique liqueur.

Buy: St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram for $20.36 here

Enjoy Allspice Dram In These Cocktails: None But The Brave Cocktail , Kingston Heights, The Lion’s Tail

#5 DOM Benedictine 80 Proof – Those monks are it at it again It must get pretty boring in those monasteries for monks all over the world to be perfecting liqueurs and beer. This liqueur comes to us from the Benedictine Abbey of Fecamp in Normandy, France. A particular monk, Dom Bernardo Vincelli, came up with the recipe for an aromatic elixir that was kept at the Abbey until the recipe was lost during the Abbey’s destruction in the French Revolution. In 1863 Alexandre le Grand re-discovered the recipe and began production under the brand name Benedictine, the company that Alexandre founded continues to produce the liqueur today. The original recipe is a big secret but notes of Angelica, Hyssop, Juniper, Myrrh, Saffron, Aloe, Arnica and Cinnamon are quite evident. The Liqueur is produced in pot stills in then aged in oak casks in dark palace cellars. While also an herbal liqueur Benedictine has a nuttier taste than Chartreuse and is fairly lower proof. It is important not to confuse Benedictine with B&B when purchasing at a liquor store because the labels look fairly similar. B&B is half Benedictine and half brandy while the original DOM Benedictine is 100% liqueur.

Buy: Benedictine for $34.99 here

Enjoy Benedictine In These Cocktails: The Vieux Carre Cocktail , The Monkey Gland Cocktail,The Straits Sling

Filed under: Booze, Simply The Best Tagged: | allspice, allspice berries, Almond, Aloe, Angelica, Arnica, B&B, Benedictine Abbey, Chartreuse Mountains, cinnamon, Clement Shurb, cloves, Cocktails, Cointreau, Death Proof, DOM Benedictine, DOM Bernardo Vincelli, El Presidente Cocktail, Eric Seed, Fecamp, Fee Brothers, France, ginger, Grand Chartreuse Monastery, Grand Marnier, Green Chartreuse, Haus Alpenz, Hyssop, John D Taylor Velvet Falernum, Juniper, Laraha Orange Peels, Liqueurs, Monks, Myrrh, None But The Brave Cocktail, Normandy, Pimento Dram, Prince Of Wales Cocktail, Quentin Tarantino, Saffron, Senior Curacao Curacao, Sidecar Cocktail, Simply The Best, St Elizabeth Allspice Dram, The Bijou Cocktail, The Chartreuse Swizzle, The Corn and Oil Cocktail, The French Revolution, The Last Word Cocktail, The Lion's Tail Cocktail, The Mai Tai Cocktail, The Monley Gland Cocktail, The Navy Grog Cocktail, The Straits Sling, The Vieux Carre Cocktail, Triple Sec, vanilla, VEP Chartreuse, Yellow Chartreuse