New liqueur reviews

The following are newly released and other liqueurs we've reviewed recently (newest at the top).

Please click on product names for full tasting notes, further information and to view the qualitative score out-of-five attributed to each product according to our Difford’s Guide rating system.

Reviewed October 2017

BÉBO Coffee Liqueur
Perhaps it's the faint wisps of smoke in this characterful and relatively dry coffee liqueur that suggest using mezcal in place of vodka in an Espresso Martini. However, we'd suggest to fully appreciate BÉBO you make a Café Mucho Gusto - an Espresso Martini with BÉBO and well-aged Cuban rum in place of vodka.

Aluna Coconut Rum
A dry styled coconut rum liqueur.

Reviewed September 2017

Gabriel Boudier Crème de Pîches Liqueur
Despite the floaters (which are a sign of poor filtration), this rich crème liqueur has unctuous ripe peach and sweet peach jam flavours, toned by mild citric acidity.

Reviewed August 2017

Elephant German Sloe Gin
Somewhat reminiscent of a cough sweet (Cherry Tunes) with strong sloe berry jame flavours accompanied by clove, cardamom and black pepper spice.

Edmond Briottet Cuaraço Orange
Very different in colour to most other orange curaçaos and with a juicy orange/ orange boiled sweet flavour enlivened with generous cardamom and peppery spice.

Edmond Briottet Crème de Figue
A rich heavy liqueur that has a genuine fig flavour. Liquid Christmas! Beware, in our experience, once opened this liqueur oxidises quickly.

Edmond Briottet Menthe Vert
A clean, fresh and very minty green crème de menthe, but not as minty as some.

Edmond Briottet Crème de Cassis di Dijon
A beautifully balanced, rich and intensely flavoured crème de cassis.

Reviewed June 2017

Pimm's Special Edition Strawberry With A Hint Of Mint
Softer and slightly sweeter than Pimm's No.1 but with equal black pepper spice. As the name and label suggest, strawberry flavours predominate with the faintest hint of mint.

Bramley & Gage Slider Fruit Cup
"Slider" suggests 'cider' and indeed notes of sloe gin and baked apple heavily influence this fruit cup. As enjoyable neat as it is with 2 parts lemonade over ice - as recommended by its makers.

Giffard Premium Caribbean Pineapple Liqueur
Ideally suited to Tiki drinks, daiquiris, coladas and other tropical cocktails, this rich liqueur has genuine ripe and grilled pineapple flavours with light balancing spice and citric acidity.

Reviewed May 2017

RinQuinQuin á la Pîche Apéritif
Light and delicate with rich peach fruitiness balanced by wine-like acidity with underlying herbal and grassy complexity.

Reviewed April 2017

Gozio Amaretto
Gozio Amaretto lacks the bitter bite that balances the rich marzipan-like notes of the best amarettos.

Cointreau Blood Orange Liqueur
When compared to Solerno, which we're sure many will do, Cointreau's Blood Orange is much lighter, sweeter and 10% less in alc./vol.. So it is not a substitute, and we'll guessing it is not trying to be. It is well-balanced and well-made with a slight candied blood red orange flavour.

Reviewed March 2017

Cointreau Camomille Liqueur
Fabulously intense with camomile, black tea tannins, rich acacia honey and zesty orange.

Cointreau Guignolet Cherry Liqueur
Guignolet are a style of cherry liqueur that are complex and multidimensional with distinctive jammy prune flavours - this example from Cointreau is an excellent.

Licor 43 Orochata Liqueur
Well-balanced, creamy, lightly cinnamon spiced and monkeynuts (It's actually made with tigernuts). This alcoholic horchata offers a great alternative to cream liqueurs.

Monin Original Lime Citron Vert Liqueur
Now better-known for syrups, this spicy lime liqueur is the "Original" product by Monin. It cries out for use in a Gimlet.

Lucano Anniversario Amaro
Spicy and lightly smoky with chocolate and cola-like notes.

Averna Edizione Riserva di Don Salvatore Amaro Siciliano
Incredibly complex, dry, bitter and yet rich. Rooty, bitter, herbal and smoky with wine and berry fruit.

Porn Star Cocktail (premixed bottled cocktail)
Sampled neat, this particular Porn Star is overly fruity and a tad acidic, but follow the instructions on the bottle and serve over ice, then both temperature and dilution tone the drink down, add balance and reveal smoothing cream-of-soda vanilla. I suspect that folk whose usual bar call is a "Porn Star Martini" will approve of this bottled rendition of their cocktail of choice, but they'd probably also prefer a freshly made version based on a quality vodka infused with vanilla pods and shaken with fresh fruit (see our Porn Star Martini recipe). That said those same drinkers are sure to love the convenience of this bottled version for home consumption - it's not a bad rendition.

February 2017

Jägermeister Manifest
Rounder and more complex than original Jägermeister, Manifest sits squarely alongside, and competes with, the very best of the traditional Italian amari. However, Manifest's flavour remains identifiable as part of the Jägermeister family.

Luxardo Bitter Bianco
First revealed in late 2016, Bitter Bianco is bittersweet and complex. It is perhaps the most interesting liqueur for new cocktail development since the release of St-Germain.

Luxardo Apricot Albicocca Liqueur
A very high quality apricot brandy with a premium 30% alc./vol. strength. Brilliantly suited to use in cocktails.

Zucca Rabarbaro Marca Depositata Specialita Dal 1845
Drier and spicer than the Zucca Rabarbaro of the 1990s to 2015, with a distinct smokiness, white chocolate, liquorice, cinnamon and white pepper spice.

Dolin Chambéryzette Aperitif A La Fraise
Reminiscent of herbal dry vermouth infused with rich strawberry jelly. Yumm.

Edinburgh Gin's Rhubarb Ginger Liqueur
Stewed rhubarb and root ginger with citrus, piney juniper. Reminiscent of Rhubarb And Custard sweets.