The market · Liqueurs and bitters · Southern Europe

Maraschino liqueur

Clear liqueur distilled from marasca cherries, stones and all — not the red cocktail cherry, but funky, floral and nutty. The backbone of the Aviation, the Last Word and the Hemingway daiquiri.

funky cherry · floral · almond

If you can't find it

Spirit shops; Luxardo is the classic.

  1. 1Kirsch
    Half as much, with a little simple syrup
    You lose the funky, nutty, floral strangeness.

Goes with

london dry ginlime juicegrapefruitgreen chartreuse

Knowing it

Where to buy
Luxardo, in the straw-wrapped bottle, is the standard; Maraska is the other.
A little history
From Zadar on the Dalmatian coast; Luxardo moved its distillery to Italy after the Second World War.
Worth knowing
Measure carefully: a quarter-measure (7–8ml) is enough in most drinks. More and it takes over.

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