Maraschino Liqueur — tasting notes & food pairings

Maraschino Liqueur

Maraschino is a clear, dry-ish cherry liqueur distilled from the Marasca — a small, sour dark cherry native to the Dalmatian coast of Croatia — together with its crushed pits, which lend a distinctive bitter-almond, nutty-floral edge. Unlike the sweet, artificially dyed red "maraschino cherries" that share its name, the liqueur itself is colourless, bottled at around 32% alcohol by volume, and tastes more of stone and kernel than of jammy fruit. Its most famous maker is Luxardo, founded in Zara (now Zadar) in 1821 and now based in Torreglia, near Padua, in the Veneto. The flavour is a curious mix of tart cherry, marzipan and a faintly funky, hay-like floral note that bartenders prize for the complexity it adds. It is rarely drunk neat in quantity; instead it is used by the teaspoon or half-ounce as a seasoning spirit, defining classic cocktails such as the Aviation, the Last Word, the Hemingway Daiquiri, the Martinez and the Brooklyn.

Bittersweet32% ABV

Crystal clear and moderately sweet but comparatively dry, maraschino leads with tart Marasca cherry and a pronounced bitter-almond, marzipan note from its distilled pits, over a distinctive floral, hay-like funk and a touch of vanilla. At around 32% ABV the alcohol is present but rounded, and the finish is clean and kernel-bitter rather than jammy, leaving a nutty, faintly tannic echo of cherry stone. Its dryness and complexity are why bartenders dose it by the teaspoon as a seasoning rather than a sweetener.