I’m not sure why this is. It can’t be because so many of them are sweet, fruity and very easy to drink, because for every one like that there is a brooding high-alcohol monster that is, to use a euphemism, an acquired taste.
Once you realise that the oldest liqueurs began life as medicinal drinks it becomes a bit clearer.
The extracts of roots, fruits, flowers, nuts, spices and vegetables have always been used in medicine – and not just homeopathic cures either; aspirin comes from willow bark – and it makes sense to have these treatments administered while suspended in alcohol. And as the song says, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, so often these frankly unpalatable early concoctions were sweetened with large quantities of sugar.
Over the years, of course, these drinks became simple tonics and eventually drinks that were taken for the pleasure of drinking them.
There is some confusion over what is a flavoured spirit and what is a liqueur, especially when you come across liqueurs that are 40 percent ABV or above. Put simply, liqueurs have had sugar added to them.
Of the 24 liqueurs we tasted this month, one thing quickly became clear: some drinks are bar staples for a reason. There are some liqueurs that have been around for many years and that is down to the quality of the product and ingredients. While it might be easy to knock up a liqueur by simply adding some fruit cordial to alcohol, getting the balance right is essential.
This month we had to split the tasting into two halves, with different tasters for each. Tasting 24 at a single sitting was too daunting a task for any of us, so for the first week I was joined by Panel stalwart Dave Batten, Beam Global’s Ben Stuart and Hancocks spirits specialist Matt Bradley, while week two saw Matt join myself and Tickety Boo Liquor director Kevin Rowe.
As usual, those with a proprietary interest in any of the liqueurs had their comments disregarded in the interests of fairness. And we’d like to thank Hancocks for the use of their great bar to host the tastings.

Click here to download the tasting notes as a PDF

By Don Kavanagh