Top Shelf Liqueur Picks From The Distiller Community

Spirit Works Sloe Gin begins with the distillery's dry gin, a wheat-based spirit made with juniper, orris and angelica roots, cardamom, coriander, orange and lemon peels, and hibiscus. This is then infused with sloe berries, a relative of the plum, to create their sloe gin.

Released Stateside in September 2015, Boodles Mulberry Gin is inspired by the British classic sloe gin, but is instead made with mulberries rather than sloe berries. Using a base of Boodles Gin, this liqueur is bottled at 30% ABV. Mulberry trees are a common sight on the English countryside, and if you haven't seen one you've certainly heard or sang the nursery rhyme "Here We Go Round..."

The recipe this classic liqueur is based on has been kept in the family for many generations. It's made by steeping wild English sloe berries with Hayman's original London Dry Gin for months, before the addition of sweetener. Along with sloe berries, the botanicals include juniper, coriander, lemon peel, orange peel, angelica root, cinnamon, cassia bark, orris root, licorice, and nutmeg. Bottled at 26% ABV.

Rock & Rye was a popular concoction in American bars in the late 19th and early 20th century, masking what was often cheap rye with rock candy and sometimes citrus peels and ginger. In this updated iteration from NY Distilling in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Mister Katz (Master Distiller Allen Katz) takes a younger version of their Ragtime Rye and mixes it with rock candy made with sugar from the local In the Raw sugar factory and an infusion of botanicals such as dried orange peel, dried Bing cherry, cinnamon, and other spices.

Ginger was considered a powerful curative in the early 1900s, and was commonly found mixed with rye whiskey and sweetened with rock candy for a concoction found at many bars called "Rock and Rye." Post Prohibition it was relegated to a dusty jar kept behind the bar for old timers, but has recently found a resurgence. Reilly's selected the rye whiskey (mash bill 51% rye, 45% corn, 4% malted barley) with Master Blender Dave Pickerell and infused it with ginger and spices for this updated interpretation.

Cooper Spirits follows up their initial Hochstadter's Slow & Low Rock & Rye, bottled at 84 proof, with this 100 proof edition. While the same flavorings are included, rock candy, raw honey, bitters, and air dried navel oranges, apart from the higher proof another change is in the form of an older whiskey. Here, it's an 8-year-old rye whiskey, sourced from an unspecified location.

Jack Daniel's Tennessee Fire was released countrywide in March 2015 after a brief three state limited release. It is made from a blend of Jack Daniel's Old No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey and Jack's original cinnamon liqueur.

Grand Marnier is an orange liqueur made from a blend of cognac (51%) and bitter orange distillate (49%). To make this distillate, the bitter orange variety citrus Bigaradia is harvested and the peels are sun-dried. The peels then macerate in neutral alcohol for ~10 days before it is distilled. This bitter orange distillate is then blended with cognac and further aged in large oak vats for 1-6 months. Originally named Curaçao Marnier when created in 1880 by founder Louis-Alexandre Marnier Lapostolle, it was soon changed to Grand Marnier after friends declared it to be grand. Also called Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge or simply GrandMa by those in the bar industry.

Jim Beam Honey is made with real honey and natural flavors. It is infused with Kentucky straight bourbon. Bottled at 70 proof.