What is Maraschino Liqueur?

Maraschino is a liqueur distilled from Marasca cherries (a sour cherry, Prunus cerasus var. marasca), traditionally including skins and pits. The pits contribute a bitter-almond, kirsch-like note. The distillate is aged, sweetened, and typically bottled around 32% ABV. Luxardo, with its straw-wrapped bottle, is the reference product in most English-language cocktail specifications.

It is not the syrup from a jar of dyed cocktail cherries, not grenadine, and not Cherry Heering. Heering is a dark, sweet, macerated cherry liqueur with spice and body. Maraschino is clear, drier, and more distillate-driven. Kirsch is an unsweetened cherry brandy; maraschino is sweetened.

Cherry pit, bitter almond, a slight funk, and a surprisingly dry finish for a liqueur. Drinkers who expect cherry soda meet a distillate instead.

Cherry Heering is the contrast: cooked cherry, spice, and body, dark rather than clear. Side by side they share a fruit and almost nothing else.

Maraschino production is Dalmatian. Girolamo Luxardo founded his distillery in Zara (now Zadar) in 1821; after the Second World War the family re-established production in Torreglia, in the Veneto. Other Dalmatian and Italian houses make related products.

Early-twentieth-century recipes use it as a dry cherry accent in small doses: the Aviation (Hugo Ensslin, 1916: gin, maraschino, lemon, crème de violette), the Last Word, and the Hemingway Daiquiri (white rum, grapefruit, lime, maraschino) associated with El Floridita in Havana.

Typical measures are a quarter- to half-ounce. In a Last Word it is equal parts with gin, green Chartreuse, and lime. Do not substitute grenadine, cherry juice, or Heering if the recipe means maraschino; the drink will gain color, sugar, and jam and lose the pit character.

The bottle is relatively stable. Store upright and capped. Luxardo can throw a slight sediment of sugar and cherry solids; that is not spoilage. Invert gently if it has sat unused.