What is Amaretto?

Amaretto is a sweet Italian liqueur whose aroma is that of bitter almond (benzaldehyde). Most commercial examples, including Disaronno Originale, are flavored from apricot kernels or a blend of kernels and botanicals, not from almond nuts. Strength is typically 21–28% ABV; Disaronno is 28%. It is a liqueur, not a spirit, and not the same as orgeat or crème de noyaux.

The Amaretto Sour is the principal cocktail use. In its late-twentieth-century form it was often amaretto and sour mix. Contemporary specifications usually add whiskey, commonly bourbon, and fresh lemon so the drink has acidity and proof.

Marzipan, apricot kernel, vanilla, and sugar. Inexpensive amaretto can taste like almond extract in syrup. A better bottle still needs acidity or whiskey if it is not to read as dessert.

Orgeat shares the almond register but is a syrup, often with orange flower, used in tiki. Crème de noyaux is a different nut liqueur, typically pink.

The Disaronno house in Saronno attaches a 1525 origin legend to a gift of liqueur for the painter Bernardino Luini. That story is brand tradition rather than a documented continuous product. Industrial amaretto as a global category is twentieth-century.

The improved Amaretto Sour associated with Jeffrey Morgenthaler around 2012 — amaretto, bourbon, lemon, egg white, and sugar as needed — restored the drink to sour structure. Without the whiskey, amaretto’s sugar dominates.

Shake amaretto with fresh lemon. Add bourbon if the drink should have sour structure rather than cordial sweetness; egg white adds texture. A large straight pour over ice is a liqueur service, not a sour.

Orgeat will not substitute: it is non-alcoholic or nearly so, and it belongs to a different template. Store amaretto like other mid-proof liqueurs, capped and away from heat. Refrigeration is optional.