Since 1821, peo­ple have iden­ti­fied Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur by its straw-plaited bot­tles. Orig­i­nally it was used to avoid break­age dur­ing sea travel. Now it is a sta­ple of the brand, visu­ally pulling it for­ward on liquor shelves across the globe. Still owned and oper­ated by the sixth gen­er­a­tion of the Luxardo fam­ily, it is one of the old­est Euro­pean liqueurs (learn more about the his­tory of Luxardo).

Luxardo Maraschino is a true clas­sic and is one of the most impor­tant bot­tles to pur­chase if you’re try­ing to com­plete your col­lec­tion at home. Obtained from the marasca, a sour cherry vari­ety exclu­sively cul­ti­vated by Luxardo, it is one of the very few liqueurs in the world pro­duced by dis­til­la­tion. The dis­til­late is allowed to mature for two years in Finnish ash wood vats and is then diluted and sug­ared. For a nice touch, they leave the cherry pits in with the fruit, which adds a fab­u­lous almond-like fla­vor. Ulti­mately, Luxardo is dis­tilled from ripe marasca cher­ries, their crushed pits, sprigs and leaves, honey, and other ingre­di­ents that remain a secret.

Tast­ing notes

One may think this is going to taste like cher­ries. You might be sur­prised to hear that they’d be wrong. The nose smells of pine, tree bark and lemon. The taste is sophis­ti­cated, but not unap­proach­able. It may be bit of an acquired taste, but def­i­nitely one worth putting the time into. The up front fla­vor is very flo­ral with a hand­ful of pine and tree bark. The mild nutty mid palette comes from the cherry pits and is very sub­tle. Luxardo fin­ishes out with a pep­per­mint candy fresh­ness that cleanses the palette nicely. The tex­ture is dense and syrupy, coat­ing the mouth.

Even though it is matured for years in wood vats, you’ll notice it has a clear color. Luxardo Maraschino has a rounded taste and a sur­pris­ingly per­sis­tent aroma. If you’re plan­ning on start­ing up a seri­ous col­lec­tion this is a great place to start. You can­not make the clas­sic Avi­a­tion with­out a bot­tle of Luxardo on hand. If you do plan to make Avi­a­tions at home please gar­nish your cock­tails with a true Luxardo Maraschino Cherry. Those lit­tle neon red cher­ries you see so often just don’t cut it. It is amaz­ing how one lit­tle piece of fruit can take your cock­tail cre­ation to the next level. It only makes sense to pair the two.

Hint: For dessert try pour­ing a lit­tle Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur over your ice cream. And of course top it with a Luxardo Maraschino cherry.

Under $30 a bot­tle Here’s a clas­sic cock­tail recipe fea­tur­ing Luxardo Maraschino:

Avi­a­tion (one variation)

• 2 oz gin
• 1/2 oz Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
• 1/2 oz creme de violette
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1 Luxardo Maraschino cherry