Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur

Agree that it does not do so well by itself.

On the nose, a heady aroma of sour cherry of course predominates. This is accompanied by notes of bitter almond, dill, and sage. Very oily and rich mouthfeel. On the palate, more notes of sour cherry, bitter almond, and dill – plus hazelnut and herbes de Provence. Palate is quite sweet, though counterbalanced by some bitterness. Finish is medium-long and silky smooth, without any discernable heat. 3.25/5.00 – Quite Good (neat)

Definitely some maraschino Cherry. But also some herbs and anise notes.

Don't actually drink this by itself. It tastes like cherry pits and cherrywood. Best used by the quarter ounce in cocktails - I treat it like bitters. Luxardo makes for a great old fashioned, especially when paired with actual Luxardo cherries (which are fantastic and should be in every liquor cabinet). Use a bit of the syrup from the cherry jar, because the woodiness of the Luxardo liqueur makes it effectively dry (even though it's actually quite sweet already).

Rating: 17/23 What a weird stopper. It's threaded, but screwing is more of a suggestion than a requirement. Yet screwing is easier. It's novel and won't rust and I like it. I expected this to be red. Because I expect dye and can't see through the green glass to tell that this is clear, I guess. So it's clear. Big whoop. I thought that this would just have a sickly cherry sweetness with richness and decadence, but I don't really get that. It's more like those fruity candy canes. I get some herbal flavors at first, with a generic floral sweetness. Cherry comes out, but it's not that maraschino flavor that I expected. I really don't taste how this is supposed to be maraschino cherry. I like this flavor, in a way, but with its clear menthol note that skirts tasting like cough syrup, it strikes me as a risky ingredient to use. I think that tiki drinks make sense for this, but not much else does. And I wouldn't drink this on its own. What do I do with this though? Coming back to this days later, I get those cherry and menthol syrupy notes, but I'm also getting strawberry and other sweet fruit flavors. I think that the cherry might be more of a suggestion from the company than an actual flavor. This is still decadent and enjoyable, but it's not great on its own and it really needs to be a sweet filler to make a fruity drink more decadent. I'm thinking it's intended for tropical drinks. I threw this in with some Rebel bourbon in a 6:1 ratio (I think you can figure out which was the 6) and it burned and didn't really taste good. So I'm thinking tiki drinks for this. This is just really hard to rate. It can add a nice dimension to a tiki drink, but otherwise it's hard to fit in. And it still isn't a defining dimension. It's good, but nothing amazing. Coming back to this and trying it in a lot of cocktails, this ranges from dominating to being almost forgotten. There's nothing that really makes me think that this is a great liqueur. How this got so many awards, I may never know. This is kind of an artificial cherry flavor that only balances with the most precise amounts of other ingredients. A bit too much of them and this just vanishes. But this never shines as a terrific ingredient either. It's just flawed and hard to find a home for. Even going through (mild riffs on) recipes like the last word and the aviation, this isn't impressing me all that much. What is even the point of this? I guess it's good in some drinks, but it's constantly struggling to show its worth, and it's frequently failing. OK, I thought about giving this some credit for the aviation (not at all for the last word though - that's a way too austere drink for this - this needs significant fun to mask its austerity), but then this Hemmingway daiquiri really stole the show. Sure, I tried this in a Martinez, but that was kind of boring. The Hemingway really showed off some sweetness that this could work with when I made it with Plantation Three Stars and light brown sugar syrup. Honestly, the Hemingway version of this is the best. I'm not sure that there's much relation to Hemingway here, but I like the flavors, boldness, sweetness, and complexity involved. Maybe this shines in the Hemingway version, but maybe it just hides behind the curtains. Hard to be sure, but I'm still kind of liking this. The most positive experience I had with this was in the Hemingway version, but even there it was lost in the various mixed ingredients. Honestly, that brown sugar sweetness makes the Hemingway version clearly the best. It's decadent and complex without being flat. Uh, and that seems like a bit of a... bullshit... Oh wow, this was a big failure. OK, it's been weeks, but I've finally found the use case for this. Mix some bitters into bourbon for added complexity, then add this for sweetness with a bit of cherry that blends in nicely, aside from the flat nature of the alcohol with it. It's still not an amazing liqueur, but it's OK. In contrast, Grand Marnier produces a less sweet and full cocktail, with more spiciness. Combined with bitters, this is the clear winner, especially combined with orange bitters. It's tough to give this a rating. I'm thinking a 16 or 17 and leaning toward a 17. I think it has its niche, but it's hard to use. I'm going for a 17, but it's definitely not an 18.