Your comments

blog comments powered by Disqus

Take Five:
Hazelnut liqueurs

Words by: Simon Difford and Ian Cameron
Pictures by: Gavin Yam

Fratello di Piemonte

20% alc./vol.
Producer: Producer here
Produced by the Francoli Distillery in Italy's beautiful Lake District of Piemonte, Fratello is made from toasted hazelnuts and infusions of cocoa, vanilla berries and elderflowers. Hazelnuts from Piemonte are toasted and soaked in a solution of alcohol and water to create a hazelnut infusion, part of which is distilled. A distillate of cocoa is also used in the final infusion, with vanilla berries and elderflowers, which is filtered and then blended with alcohol, water, sugar and acacia honey (produced by bees from the vineyards owned by the Francoli family). Finally caramel is added to produce Fratello's bright amber colour.

Appearance: Clear, pale amber-yellow.
Aroma: Fresh cracked hazelnuts with peanut butter and cheesecake base nose.
Taste: Subdued, mildly flavoured, Ferrero Rocher-like palate with light syrupiness, toasted hazelnuts, lightly burnt toast, cacao powder and sweet vanilla.
Aftertaste: Short, subdued hazelnut, mocha coffee, cocoa powder finish.
diffordsguide rating: 4/5

Frangelico


24% alc./vol.
Producer: Producer here

This Italian liqueur is flavoured with hazelnuts which are toasted and distilled with neutral alcohol before infusing the result with cacao beans, coffee, vanilla, berries, rhubarb root, sweet orange flowers and other natural flavours. It is oak cask-aged prior to sweetening and bottling, in the distinctive Franciscan friar's cassock-shaped bottle, complete with cord-rope tie.

AppearanceClear, pale amber-yellow.
Aroma: Cheese cake base - butter and crushed up digestive biscuit (Graham Cracker).
Taste: Rich toasted hazelnut palate with lightly syrupy hazelnut, walnut and almond, a hint of mocha coffee, citrus, vanilla and cocoa powder.
Aftertaste: Medium length, nutty toffee with mocha coffee, cocoa powder.
diffordsguide rating: 4.5/5

Tilford Licor Avellana


20% alc./vol.
Producer: D. Zamora, Cartagena, Spain

This hazelnut liqueur is made by the same Spanish owners of Licor 43 and Cuarenta Y Tres Liqueur.

Appearance: Clear, rusty orange
Aroma: Light hazelnut nose with hazelnut shells with soft peach and apricot fruit aromas
Taste: Nutty and buttery palate with sweetened peach tea and gentle cinnamon spice
Aftertaste: Sweet, nutty finish with lingering black tea tannic dryness
diffordsguide rating: 3/5

Joseph Cartron Noisette


25% alc./vol.
Producer: Joseph Cartron, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Burgundy, France

Neutral alcohol flavoured with hazelnut essences, presented in Cartron's embossed glass bottle.

Appearance: Clear, pale straw yellow
Aroma: Subdued hazelnut with fresh-split green bamboo and a touch of hairspray
Taste: Syrupy, nougat and faint hazelnut butter with light peppery spice
Aftertaste: Fades with lingering nougat and peanut butter
diffordsguide rating: 4/5

Briottet Crème de Noisette


25% alc./vol.
Producer: Edmond Briottet, Dijon, France

Hazelnut essences are used to flavour a beetroot alcohol base. Briottet's crèmes boast around 250g of sugar per litre.

Appearance: Clear, pale straw yellow
Aroma: Extremely subdued hazelnut shells with white pepper spirity notes
Taste: Creamy hazelnut palate (still subdued) with aggressive grappa-like and white pepper notes
Aftertaste: White chocolate and buttery hazelnut finish with white pepper
diffordsguide rating: 3/5

left
Right