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Luxardo Maraschino


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Does anyone know of a liquor store in Washington that carries the Luxardo brand of maraschino liqueur? Calvert Woodley carries the Stock brand, but Luxardo is much better. Maraschino liqueur is the sine qua non ingredient in the excellent Aviation Cocktail. I've tried Central and Pearson's. Central's website claims they have it, but they don't really, and boy is that an inconvenient location anyway. I also tried Paul's and Chevy Chase, I think.

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I use Luxardo products at the restaurant in my drinks. I order it from Winebow, who is the local distibutor for Luxardo. Cleveland Park Liquors sometimes has it in stock or will/can order it for you. You can also contact my sales rep at winebow-Ron Brooks at 703-867-1395 and ask him about other stores that he could deliver it to for you. Please mention my name when calling him, as to make sure I get my "piece of the action" :)

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Now that I think of it, I didn't try Chevy Chase, but rather Circle Liquor on the other side of the street on the same block. I just called Chevy Chase on the phone, and they have some in stock. Thanks!

You're very welcome. Chevy Chase Wine has been around for a long time, and they enjoy a wonderful reputation. In my own experience, when there's a hard-to-find item, they usually have it, or have the ability to locate it quickly.

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I have a bottle of Luxardo Maraschino. I had planned to use it in place of kirsch-primarily in desserts. But it doesn't have the intense cherry flavor I was expecting. In what sort of bibulous concoctions (or others) do you recommend I use it?
There are many, but an Aviation would be my favorite. You can also use it to make your own preserved cherries, put the cherries in a jar and top with Maraschino, and let stand in the refrigerator for a month. My current batch was made with frozen sweet cherries, and topped with Stock Maraschino (which I bought when I could not find Luxardo). They make a much nicer garnish than the glow in the dark "Maraschino" cherries.
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I have a bottle of Luxardo Maraschino. I had planned to use it in place of kirsch-primarily in desserts. But it doesn't have the intense cherry flavor I was expecting. In what sort of bibulous concoctions (or others) do you recommend I use it?
There's an (apparently) recently re-discovered cocktail called The Last Word that uses it. This is one of the greatest cocktails ever devised, even though reading the recipe you might be skeptical. It's equal measures of gin, green Chartreuse, maraschino, and lime juice. I generally add a dash of orange bitters, although that's uncanonical. You can read a bit about it here. It's unfortunate that green Chartreuse is so remarkably expensive (about $40 is the lowest price I've ever found for a fifth of it, and most places charge significantly more), but it's wonderful stuff. Please note that although this drink is only a quarter gin and half liqueur, it packs a considerable punch. Chartreuse weighs in at 110 proof.
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On different proportions (more gin), this is similar to the Flying Monk that Tom Brown concocted at Agraria-then-Corduroy. That may have lemon instead of lime though.
I've tried The Last Word with more typical cocktail proportions, that is, with double the gin, and haven't liked it nearly as much as the 1-1-1-1 formula. I like the name Flying Monk, though.
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I've tried The Last Word with more typical cocktail proportions, that is, with double the gin, and haven't liked it nearly as much as the 1-1-1-1 formula.
I have to agree with you on using equal proportions, it is so perfectly balanced, but I like to use a neutral gin for this, and lean towards Plymouth, the more botanical gins (such as 209 or Junipero) tend to conflict with the powerful botanicals in the Chartreuse.
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I have a bottle of Luxardo Maraschino. I had planned to use it in place of kirsch-primarily in desserts. But it doesn't have the intense cherry flavor I was expecting. In what sort of bibulous concoctions (or others) do you recommend I use it?
And then there's another cocktail which I happen to have invented, which (in all humility) is remarkably good:

Tarleton's Resurrection

4 parts gin

2 parts lemon juice

2 parts Cherry Heering

1 part Luxardo maraschino

2 dashes Regan's orange bitters

shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass

There was a bit of discussion on eGullet.

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And then there's another cocktail which I happen to have invented, which (in all humility) is remarkably good:

Tarleton's Resurrection

4 parts gin

2 parts lemon juice

2 parts Cherry Heering

1 part Luxardo maraschino

2 dashes Regan's orange bitters

shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass

There was a bit of discussion on eGullet.

Hersch,

That is one fine cocktail. When I read this and even while I was mixing it all I could think was that the Maraschino was going to be over-powered by the Herring's. Sure enough on the first sip, no Maraschino, however, once the cocktail lost a bit of its chill, I picked it up mid-palette. You should be proud of this.

By the way, Herring's has always been known as Herring Cherry Liquor, but most people know it simply as Cherry Herring.

P.S.

It gets better with every sip.

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Hersch,

That is one fine cocktail. When I read this and even while I was mixing it all I could think was that the Maraschino was going to be over-powered by the Herring's. Sure enough on the first sip, no Maraschino, however, once the cocktail lost a bit of its chill, I picked it up mid-palette. You should be proud of this.

By the way, Herring's has always been known as Herring Cherry Liquor, but most people know it simply as Cherry Herring.

P.S.

It gets better with every sip.

I'm so glad you like it! And I am proud of it. I've thrown a few cocktails together in my time, but this is the one that could outlive me. Hm...maybe I'll go make one for myself.

On the Heering name, the label on the bottle used to read "Cherry Heering" or "Cherry Heering Liqueur" (look here), but now reads "Heering Cherry Liqueur".

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I stand corrected.

What type of gin do you use in your beverage? When I made it last night, I used Miller's London Dry, and it added just enough complexity. I would be interested in trying a gin with a little more heft, something like Junipero.

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The few times I tried it, I thought Cherry Heering tasted too much like Robitussin, so it doesn't reside in my liquor collection. I tend to be a Martini gal, olive and twist, on the occasional event of drinking a cocktail, but I might just try an Aviation. thanks for posting that.

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To return to Tarleton's Resurrection: This is the first June since I devised the cocktail, and now cherries are in season. I've been garnishing Tarleton's Resurrections with the sour cherries I got at the farmers' market on Sunday. Folks, this is so nice. Please try it. And if you can have Paul O'Dette playing the Dowland air of the same name on your stereo as you sip the cocktail...well, that's beyond nice.

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To return to Tarleton's Resurrection: This is the first June since I devised the cocktail, and now cherries are in season. I've been garnishing Tarleton's Resurrections with the sour cherries I got at the farmers' market on Sunday. Folks, this is so nice. Please try it. And if you can have Paul O'Dette playing the Dowland air of the same name on your stereo as you sip the cocktail...well, that's beyond nice.
What's your preferred glass to serve this in?
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To return to Tarleton's Resurrection: This is the first June since I devised the cocktail, and now cherries are in season. I've been garnishing Tarleton's Resurrections with the sour cherries I got at the farmers' market on Sunday. Folks, this is so nice. Please try it. And if you can have Paul O'Dette playing the Dowland air of the same name on your stereo as you sip the cocktail...well, that's beyond nice.

I thought I'd bump this up, although not for anything much to do with Luxardo Maraschino. A week or two ago I was in Plain Old Pearson's, and noticed that they had Fee Brothers Cherry Bitters, which I'd never seen before. So I bought a bottle and substituted cherry bitters for orange in the world-famous Tarleton's Resurrection cocktail, making it quadruple cherry, including the cherry garnish. Pretty nice.

And speaking of Paul O'Dette playing the Dowland air of the same name, you can hear him play it on his lute here.

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I thought I'd bump this up, although not for anything much to do with Luxardo Maraschino. A week or two ago I was in Plain Old Pearson's, and noticed that they had Fee Brothers Cherry Bitters, which I'd never seen before. So I bought a bottle and substituted cherry bitters for orange in the world-famous Tarleton's Resurrection cocktail, making it quadruple cherry, including the cherry garnish. Pretty nice.

And speaking of Paul O'Dette playing the Dowland air of the same name, you can hear him play it on his lute here.

I think I saw a bottle of Luxardo at A&B Liquors on Columbia Road--just down from the Starbucks at 18th & Columbia.

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I think I saw a bottle of Luxardo at A&B Liquors on Columbia Road--just down from the Starbucks at 18th & Columbia.

Because of the ongoing cocktail renascence, Luxardo maraschino is much easier to find than when I started this thread six years (!) ago. Calvert Woodley and Pearson's both carry it. I rarely shop at any other spirits stores, but I usually see it when I do. In this one little way, the world is a better place.

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Despite it only being a few feet from me, it's buried in my bar, and I cannot remember the name. However, there is a much cheaper maraschino than Luxardo, and I feel that it is a "safer" one for new cocktail folks - Luxardo will wipe out a drink if poured too handily, while this one is much lighter in taste. I'll edit for the name if I find it, but you can get it at Ace.

Ace also has Leopold's maraschino, which I found quite lovely. I haven't made many drinks with it yet, though. I did like it straight!

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Stock does, but it's not worth purchasing IMHO.

Six years ago, Calvert Woodley carried Stock maraschino and not Luxardo. Now it's the other way around, which has added much happiness to the world's store of that elusive commodity.

Leopold? Lazzaroni? I don't know these fellows. My quick research shows me that Leopold is much more expensive than Luxardo, while Lazzaroni is cheaper. Luxardo isn't particularly expensive to start with.

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Lazzaroni is Italian. It is cheaper. It is lighter, and thus, if you overpour in a cocktail, it's less likely to take over. At the same time, it's less likely in general to give you that maraschino hit that many cocktails deserve.

Leopold is out of Colorado, and the only American maraschino I've had. It is delicious on its own, but I haven't experimented with it much in cocktails. CAVEAT: I've been a big fan of Leopold's distillery, as I think they do some darn good stuff. Not all of it, but a lot of it is tasty and fun.

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These days even the Montgomery County liquor stores carry Luxardo (at almost double retail price which is bizarre considering how cheaply they sell some other stuff).

Calvert Woodley is charging $26.99 for a 750ml bottle, as is Amazon. MoCo is charging more than $50?

While at Amazon, I discovered this book:

Maraschino Luxardo : evolution and history of a famous Italian liqueur by Nicolßo Girolamo Luxardo S.p.A. Luxardo De Franchi (1952)

I don't know what that German "scharfes Ess" is doing in his name. And unfortunately, I've been unable to turn up an actual copy of the book, even at Bookfinder.com. Bookfinder does find a book called Luxardo Bottles: Identification and Price Guide by Constance Avery, 1968 (when apparently Luxardo bottles were a hot collectible).

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go to the search page...and you can then search for any product and the price will pop up.

Among the more fkd up aspects of their website is that the link to their search page didn't look anything like a link. I didn't even notice it was there. Anyway, they're currently charging $41.15 for 750ML Luxardo Maraschino, which isn't double the going price elsewhere but is ridiculously high. But they're offering Bulleit rye whiskey for $16.99. C-W wants $27.99 for the same product!

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On 3/6/2007 at 7:41 PM, The Hersch said:

And then there's another cocktail which I happen to have invented, which (in all humility) is remarkably good:

Tarleton's Resurrection

4 parts gin

2 parts lemon juice

2 parts Cherry Heering

1 part Luxardo maraschino

2 dashes Regan's orange bitters

shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass

There was a bit of discussion on eGullet.

This touches a number of topics that have come up over the years. My bottle of Cherry Heering, an essential component of the famous cocktail Tarlton's Resurrection, finally ran dry, a bottle that had served me well for at least five years. When I went to Calvert Woodley to replace it, I found that they no longer carry the stuff. The only alternative they could offer me was Cherry Kijafa, which I hadn't tasted in at least 40 years. I couldn't imagine that it would work, but I was surprised by how not-awful the resulting cocktail was, although it had a sort of vinegary undertone and produced a decidedly inferior result. So today I was in Washington Circle and stopped into Arrowine, asking for Cherry Heering. The excellent gentleman there told me they didn't carry it, but suggested I give Leopold Bros' Michigan Tart Cherry Liqueur a try, it being a much finer product in his view. Well, it is a much better product. It's an almost infinitely superior liqueur, and the resulting cocktail was a revelation. Substitute it for Cherry Heering in the formula above, and add a few drops of Fee Bros' Cherry Bitters, and you'll have a very fine cocktail indeed, especially if you can enhance it with a garnish of fresh cherries.

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