Maison Lillet, producers of the French aperitifs Lillet Blanc and Lillet Rouge, announced their first new product in 50 years: Lillet Rosé. Lillet Rosé has just launched on the public market, but it was introduced to the industry last year, garnering some serious recognition: it was awarded a Chairman’s Trophy at the 2011 Ultimate Beverage Challenge, and a 94/Excellent Rating and a Gold Medal in the 2011 San Francisco Spirits Competition. Lillet Rosé is created from a blend of the red and white Grand Cru Bordeaux wine varietals used to produce Lillet Blanc and Lillet Rouge. Those varietals include Semillon, Sauvignon...

Bushmills Irish Honey is the newest addition to the Bushmills range. It’s a blend of Bushmills Original Irish Whiskey with honey, which follows the template introduced by Wild Turkey American Honey and Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey. Bushmills is one of the only distilleries in the world that produces its whiskeys completely under one roof. The “grain to glass” facility malts, distills, matures, blends and bottles at Ireland’s oldest working distillery. Bushmills Irish Honey pours a light straw gold and has aromas of sweetened grains, honey and pears. More honey comes through on the palate, plus more pears and hints of ripe...

Cynar is perhaps my new favorite ingredient for crafting cocktails. I’ve been drinking the stuff, usually straight, for several years, but it’s only recently that I’ve begun to really experiment with Cynar in cocktails. While the bottle prominently features an artichoke, one can hardly claim that Cynar tastes like artichokes. Rather, it’s a bittersweet Italian aperitif (though it can be considered a valid digestivo given its bitter properties) comprised of 13 herbs and plants. It’s much less bitter than amari like Fernet and Campari, and its relatively low alcohol level – just 16.5% – makes it even easier to toss...

PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur has announced the launch of its “Best Home Bar Star Contest.” Beginning today and running through February 29th, the contest encourages home bartenders and cocktail enthusiasts to submit cocktail recipes that are delicious, balanced, elegantly presented and, of course, use PAMA. The winner will receive a trip for two to the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen in June 2012, plus $2,000 and the opportunity for their recipe to be presented in front of thousands of attendees at the Grand Tasting Tent. The winning recipe will also be featured on PAMA’s website. The contest...

Fernet, that most bitter of Italian amari, has reached cult-like status in recent years. It’s a favorite shot for bartenders, a popular digestivo in San Francisco – Northern California accounts for nearly 40% of all Fernet Branca’s U.S. sales – and is often mixed with Coke in Argentina. But as Camper English notes, until now, a call for Fernet has almost exclusively meant Fernet Branca, the most widely available brand of the Italian liqueur. Hoping to change that, two companies will begin giving consumers more choices in their Fernet consumption. Camper’s San Francisco Chronicle article reports that drinkers can expect to...

Kahlúa Cinnamon Spice is the latest offering from Kahlúa, adding to the brand’s stable of flavors that also includes French Vanilla, Mocha and Hazelnut, to name a few. Kahlúa Cinnamon Spice is a blend of Arabica coffee and sugar cane spirit that’s infused with flavors of cinnamon, cloves and brown sugar. We already know Kahlúa to be a nice addition to coffee, but what else can we do with this liqueur? For starters, we drank it neat. On the nose, Kahlúa Cinnamon Spice is rich and sweet, with aromas of coffee and cinnamon. Take a sip and it’s more of...

Germany’s The Bitter Truth makes some of our favorite cocktail bitters – we’re especially fond of their celery bitters and creole bitters – but they also make a range of fine liqueurs, including an apricot and a violet liqueur. Given that the latter two products just showed up on our doorstep, straight from Deutschland, we figured we’d crack them open and do some drinking. Bitter Truth Apricot Liqueur This liqueur combines the juice of sun-ripened apricots with an apricot eau de vie distilled from the same fruit. As expected, it smells convincingly of apricots, but there’s also a pleasant note of...

Today at Tales of the Cocktail Drambuie introduced a new expression – Drambuie 15. Drambuie 15 is made with a selection of 15-year-old Speyside malts. It’s a refined, drier expression that brings the liqueur’s whiskey notes to the forefront. According to the company – This is achieved by the careful selection of old Speyside malts with soft, complex fragrance and flavors to complement the aromas of the secret Drambuie recipe. The resulting drink is designed to appeal to malt whisky drinkers and is perfect for sipping and savoring either neat or over ice. "To reach the high standards required for Drambuie...

Cocktail Enthusiast joined a slew of other booze writers and avid drinkers in Vegas this week for the official launch of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey. Hosted by the MGM Grand, we tasted through the full Jack Daniel’s lineup with Master Taster Jeff Norman, sipped cocktails featuring the new Tennessee Honey liqueur and attended a mixology contest that pitted 14 Vegas bartenders against each other in a Tennessee Honey mix-off. Some highlights -- Drinking Whiskey with Jeff Norman As Jack Daniel’s Master Taster (which is perhaps the world’s greatest job title) Jeff Norman is responsible for quality control. He ensures that each Jack...

Averna, the Sicilian Amaro, announced today that it has revamped its bottle design. It marks the liqueurs’ first design update in more than 20 years and features a more contemporary take on the traditional label. Though I've got to say, it doesn't look that much different than the old bottle.  Still, Averna hopes the new look and feel will appeal to its increasing number of young consumers. Averna belongs to the category of amaros—herbal Italian liqueurs—that more people are starting to drink neat, rather than just mixing into cocktails. Bartenders have been knocking back amaros like Averna and Fernet for...