Luxardo Maraschino 70cl

If your home bar’s missing one “why does this cocktail taste like the real deal?” ingredient, it’s Maraschino liqueur—and Luxardo is the benchmark. This Italian cherry liqueur doesn’t taste like cherry syrup. It’s bright and perfumed, with a nutty, almost almond edge that makes classics taste finished instead of close.

Maraschino is the kind of bottle you don’t use every night… until you do. It turns a handful of famous recipes from decent to obsessed-with-it, because it brings sweetness, lift, and a slightly savoury cherry-pit complexity all at once.

• Nose: Cherry blossom and ripe cherry, with a subtle almond-like aroma and a hint of baking spice.
• Taste: Sweet-tart cherry up front, then that signature stone-fruit “pit” character—nutty, lightly bitter, and super fragrant.
• Finish: Long and floral, with lingering cherry and a dry, gently toasted almond note.

What makes it special is the shape of the flavour: it’s not just fruit, it’s fruit plus the kernel. That’s why it plays so nicely with gin’s botanicals, rum’s warmth, and citrus’s zing. In cocktails like the Aviation, Last Word, Martinez, and Hemingway Daiquiri, it doesn’t shout—it stitches everything together.

You’ll also notice it’s not cloying. The sweetness is there, but it’s balanced by that faint bitterness and perfume, so your drink stays crisp instead of turning into a dessert.

If you’re building a cocktail shelf, this sits in the “small pour, big impact” category. A dash here, a barspoon there, and suddenly you’re making drinks that taste layered and intentional—even if you’re just winging it on a Tuesday.

Fun fact: the Luxardo family has been making Maraschino since 1821, and the distillery’s cherry orchards are so central to production that the brand famously protects the supply chain from tree to bottle.