Heirloom American Alchermes Liqueur

Good drink to sip on in winter

Delicious. As the ad copy makes clear, this is based on an old recipe from the dark ages and was originally a restorative/curative like a lot of old recipes (think Chartreuse or any of a range of herbals).

This one favors sweet spices with little/no bitterness. Deep red in the glass, a liqueur on its own for a perfect nightcap. Flavor is predominantly cardamon followed by some other spices (cinnamon, coriander, vanilla). What shines through on the finish is a rose water element. Balanced and clean.

Of course you can use it as an element in a cocktail or as a cooking ingredient, but is is particularly nice late at night with a book in the colder months.

I got this to make pizza dolce Abruzzese, a wonderful cake from the Abruzzo region of Italy, but I have already had a few sips just to taste. It is wonderful! I love that it somehow made it's way from the Arab world to Italy, and is still being produced. Clove, cinnamon, coriander and other spices make it a lovely liqueur to sip on after dinner, by a fire...

Warm spicy and sweetish: hints of cinnamon, clove and vanilla, but also intense cardamom notes, especially when part of a Negroni where the gin is more herbal (like Hendricks).