Continuing with the French theme, I’ve moved on to another side-by-side tasting of liqueurs: St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur and St. Elder Natural Elderflower Liqueur. It’s a little early in the year to be diving into summery spritzes, but it’s been unseasonably warm lately. First up is the St Germain: Country of Origin: France ABV: 20% Price: $22.99 Nose: Dense, sweet, and heady. Lots of syrupy canned lychee, honey, and some grape and orange leaves. Fruity, floral, and fragrant. Palate: Very light in mouthfeel but syrupy in texture (if you can imagine resolving those two). Intensely sweet, with more lychee, citrus, and floral notes. Very easy drinking given the low proof. Finish: Medium-short. It has a candy-like fruity sweetness, like this was made by macerating a bag of Original Skittles in eau-de-vie. Verdict: For starters (and this has nothing to do with the actual tasting which I try to avoid), but I will say the bottle design looks very classy on the shelf. So as far as presentation, right off the bat, the extra ~$8 gets you a big step up in appearance. Second, while this is excellent neat, it’s also excellent as a mixer – it’s the originator and makeover specialist of many a cocktail. Thirdly, it’s delicious – it handily fills the depth-of-flavor role and it’s easily drinkable when you don’t want to think about it much. 4.25 ~ Excellent