Ciemme Amaretto Liquore

Ciemme Amaretto is an Italian amaretto liqueur made by Ciemme Liquori, which by its own account has produced spirits since 1932 from Saronno in Lombardy, the Italian town long associated with amaretto. In the traditional amaretto style the almond character is built up around roasted nuts and ground paste, layered with honey and vanilla, and bottled at 20%.

The nose is nutty with almonds and honey, the palate rich with almond and vanilla over a marzipan sweetness, closing long on the palate. Behind the bar it works as a nutty sweetener with real body, the role amaretto plays across the canon: it carries the Amaretto Sour, turns a Scotch into a Godfather and a Cognac into a French Connection, and a splash rounds out coffee, cola or a Manhattan riff. Pour it neat over ice as a simple after dinner serve, or reach for it whenever a drink wants an almond and marzipan note.