Ten bottles for National Liqueur Day - The Spirits Business

Whether you’re sipping neat or adding to a cocktail, liqueurs are the backbone of many backbars. To mark National Liqueur Day today (16 October), we’ve rounded up 10 bottles to add to your collection.

Whether fruity or botanically-forward, creamy-textured or spirit-based, the liqueur category is one that has almost endless possibilities, and can take a cocktail from basic to complex.

Here, we’ve explored 10 different expressions that can take your drinks cabinet to the next level.

This month, Beeble added to its honey-based spirit collection with the launch of Honey Tequila liqueur, a first of its kind in the UK that infuses the richness of Beeble’s natural Wiltshire honey with Blue agave blanco Tequila from the fields of Jalisco, Mexico.

Sourced from an artisan, family-run distillery where generations of distillers grow, harvest, cook and distil the Tequila before it journeys to Wiltshire, the result is a 30% ABV spirit with a bold and sweet profile that is perfect for sipping on its own or elevating classic Tequila-based cocktails like Margaritas or Palomas.

You can’t make a Margarita without triple sec, but purists will say you can’t make a true Margarita without Cointreau.

Despite being an orange-flavoured liqueur, it clocks in at a deceivingly punchy 40% ABV. While it’s delicious on its own, with balance, depth and an unmistakable orange flavour, it really comes into its own in a cocktail. In fact, its not just the Margarita that makes this famous square bottle a must-have for any backbar – its also the backbone of the Cosmopolitan, the Sidecar, and the White Lady.

Next month will see the results of the 2024 Liqueur Masters blind-tasting competition. However, until those results come in and the new medals are dished out, we are shining a light on last year’s definitive winner of the contest – the 2023 Taste Master – which was named as O’Donnell Moonshine’s Wild Berry liqueur.

After sampling such an eclectic mix of styles and flavours, the expert judges presented the fruit-based liqueur with the accolade for its inviting, deep rich flavour, with plenty of berry character and a well-judges alcohol and sweetness integration.

A true stand-out of any backbar, Italicus’ tall, curvaceous teal bottle is as elegant as it is recognisable. However, it’s what’s on the inside that counts, and luckily the liquid within lives up to its vessel.

Presenting an aromatic profile from its balanced blend of Calabrian bergamot and Italian botanicals, Italicus offers flavours of citrus, florals, and herbs, and provides a fresh take on the liqueur category, making it the perfect addition to any cocktail, including everything from a Spritz to a Nergoni.

Sweet and spicy, this bright-yellow liqueur infuses pineapple and ginger with gin, making for a bold and flavoursome drink that is both fiery and intense while featuring a welcome sharpness and warmth.

This is yet another liqueur that sings best in a cocktail or with a mixer, such as ginger ale, or topped with Prosecco for an extra bit of sparkle.

If you jumped on the Hugo Spritz bandwagon this summer, you’ll have probably already become acquainted with this elderflower liqueur.

This French liqueur made with fresh elderflowers, hand-picked once a year in the late spring. To accomplish its exquisitely natural flavour, every art deco-inspired bottle of St‑Germain contains up to 1,000 elderflower blossoms, resulting in a finely crafted, perfectly balanced and refined liqueur.

Vietnam’s Về Để Đi Distillery describes its Crème de Cacao as a remarkable liqueur that is best when enjoyed over ice, straight, or as part of one of your favourite decadent chocolate-based cocktails.

In this year’s DB & SB Autumn Blind Tasting, the judges were particularly enamoured with Về Để Đi Distillery’s Crème de Cacao, awarding it a Master medal. One judge found it to have “rich, very pronounced cacao on the nose” with some “almost Port or fortified wine qualities” on the palate.

A fresh and fragrant blend of Caribbean rum, natural white peach and pure coconut blossom nectar, this liqueur from Aluna is an elegant way to elevate your cocktails.

Bottled at 25% ABV, this is a lighter, fragrant liqueur that can be sipped neat over ice, added to sparkling wine and garnished with peach slices for a simple summer Spritz, or lengthened with sodas or lemonade. It is also perfect for updating your brunch Bellini.

Connie Glaze Lemon Sherbet Vodka is the Southwestern Distillery’s Cornish answer to Italy’s limoncello.

Produced in small batches, this liqueur is slowly filtered through Cornish golden sand at founder and master distiller, Tarquin Leadbetter’s Southwestern Distillery in Cornwall. It is infused with lemons and handpicked lemon verbena grown on a ‘subtropical kitchen garden’ overlooking the camel estuary at Padstow Kitchen Garden.

The Cornish lemon verbena is said to provide a refreshing citrus zing, which keeps the distillery’s take on limoncello much smoother and easier to drink.

Spain’s Zamora Company added a Master medal to its tally in the Cream round of The Liqueur Masters 2023, nabbing the top award for its Licor 43 Chocolate expression. “Indulgent chocolate flavour, rich and creamy. Very easy to drink,” the judges said with high praise.

The texture of milk chocolate adds depth to the entire taste experience of this liqueur, while the intense cocoa aromas with a slight acidity adds a touch of freshness to the distinct sweet and vanilla notes of Licor 43. Try adding a splash to a rich coffee for an indulgent after dinner treat.

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