welcome to the fifty best spirits of 2006

                 Presents

Page 6  - LIQUEURS

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Bauchant
Pomegranate XO Liqueur
(France; Palm Bay Imports, Inc., Boca Raton, FL)
24% abv,  $40. 
CLASSIC / Highest Recommendation
The delightful bouquet offers alluringly tart and brambly aromas. The palate entry explodes in tart, then ripe, tastes of red berries and pomegranate; the midpalate stage crescendos with a ripe, juicy, tart pomegranate flavor. Finish is clean, lean, refreshingly tart and genuine.

Chartreuse
Green Liqueur
Fabriquée par Les Pères Chartreux
(France; Frederick Wildman & Sons, Ltd., NY)
55% abv,  $48. 
CLASSIC / Highest Recommendation
The bouquet is vibrant, prickly and displays cedar, coriander, cardamom, aniseed, jasmine, rosemary, sage, basil and other botanicals. The palate is lushly textured, herbal sweet, peppery and minerally. Sublime aftertaste.

Aperol
Aperitivo Liqueur
(Italy; Skyy Spirits, San Francisco, CA)
11% abv,  $20. 
SUPERB / Highly Recommended
Sophisticated and delightful aromas of tangerine and rhubarb. The palate entry is delightfully citrusy and sweet; the midpalate phase offers just enough herbal bitterness to balance. Ends up refreshing, orangey sweet and delectably herbal. This deserves to become a popular pre-dinner quaff.

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L’Amour des Trois Oranges
Oranges Macerated in Sugar
with Chateau de Briat Bas Armagnac
(France; Charles Neal Selections, Richmond, CA)
36% abv,  $60. 
SUPERB / Highly Recommended
The opening aroma of ripe oranges is seductively sweet; aeration allows the scents of orange peel oil to come to life. The palate entry is lovely, round and delightfully spirity; the midpalate offers notes of caramel, Armagnac and honey that mix well with the height-ened orange peel tartness. Finishes gracefully tart, oily and clean.

Limoncello di Puglia
Lemon Liqueur
(Italy; Puglia Inc., Brookfield, CT)
30% abv,  $15. 
SUPERB / Highly Recommended
The pleasant aroma offers a tart, lemon zest scent in the opening sniffings and then turns waxy after aeration. The palate entry is bitter, citric acidy, and extremely tart but then turns richly lemony and hard candy-like at midpalate, providing a good bal-ance between the lemon, the acid and the alcohol. Ends up supremely lemony and astringent.

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Luxardo
Il Maraschino Originale
Cherry Liqueur
(Italy; Preiss Imports, Ramona, CA)
32% abv,  $25. 
SUPERB / Highly Recommended
The bouquet is lovely, balanced, properly astringent, ripe and juicy with scents of cherry stone and cherry juice. The palate entry is decadently sweet and textured with vibrant tastes of cherry compote and cherry preserves at midpalate. The finish is svelte, moderately syrupy and down-right delicious. An outstanding liqueur: use it in an Aviation Cocktail.

Nocino della Cristina
Walnut Liqueur
Napa Valley
(USA; Monterverdi Spirits, Napa, CA)
30% abv,  $24./200 ml. 
SUPERB / Highly Recommended
The bou-quet features intriguing scents of coffee bean, black walnut, chicory and a hint of quinine. The palate entry is molasses-like and walnutty; the midpalate features tastes of black walnut and buttery richness on top of the roasted coffee bean. Ends stately, concentrated, luxurious and nuttily delicious.

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Soho
Lychee Flavored Liqueur
(France; Pernod Ricard USA, White Plains, NY)
21% abv,  $19. 
SUPERB / Highly Recommended
The highly perfumed aroma features good smells of lychee with additional layers of fragrances of parchment, palm oil, flowers and sealing wax. The palate entry is gently sweet and properly fruity; the midpalate displays a textured sweetness/ripeness that is delicious and light-to-medium weighted. Wraps up sweet, succulent, and genuinely tasty.

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