Licor 43

Rating: 11/23 N: Some earth, grain, and alcoholic bite. It makes me think of a wheat vodka, but there is a bit more sweetness with faint orange and touch of something herbal. It's also a bit spicy in a way that makes me worry it might be a bit harsh. P: Sweet and then a spicy, alcoholic bite hits. Definitely a vodka base. A little harsh, but not too bad. There's a bit of something in the vicinity of orange, but sweeter than soda. It's more like a somewhat light caramel flavor. It reminds me a bit of that sweet caramel side of Don Julio 1942, but it's not as nice of a flavor and it's more one-dimensional. Maybe sort of cream soda flavor too? Yeah, I get that a little. Maybe brown sugar or something? The takeaway here is this: it mostly tastes like various forms of sugar. I like the rich, full, viscous nature of the palate, but the alcohol bite is a bit rough. To whatever extent there are actual spices, I'm afraid that they're just getting munged with the alcohol harshness. F: Some lingering alcohol burn. It's more the alcohol side of the vodka than an actual spice flavor. - Conclusion - Honestly, it's hard to believe that there are 43 botanicals in this. It barely tastes like there's one. I didn't have enough left to play around with it in some cocktails, but I feel like it's just sweet syrup, so I can pretty well guess what it would taste like. It's better than your typical flavored vodka by miles. This goes all right with Rémy Martin 1738 (16/23), but I feel like the Rémy Martin is pulling most of the weight there. This is quite nice mixed with soda. There's something a tad artificial about it, but I think it tastes better than most commercial sodas (at least it doesn't have that metallic taste). I can imagine going down to a 10 for this, but I think it's fine enough that I don't want to go quite that low. A 14 seems too high to me though. I've been circling around a 12 and that's where I think I'm landing. It may be good with soda, but if that's the best I can say of a spirit, it isn't that good of a spirit. Actually, I'm thinking more of a 10 or 11 on my final sips. I think I'll give it an 11. I feel like I might have made it sound like this was excessively harsh. It wasn't all that harsh. It's more that I noticed it and it reminded me that there's vodka in here, so half of what I was tasting was vodka. That isn't terrible on its own (though it isn't great). The real problem here is that it just doesn't taste that good on its own or in cocktails. Maybe an 11 is a little too harsh (or maybe not), but it really isn't a LOT too harsh. My best guess is that this would be a good substitute for simple syrup or honey syrup in a boozy variation of some cocktail.

Another 50ml of something I wouldn't normally drink in any other circumstance, although I have no idea what to expect here. The only use and reference I've ever heard Licor 43 used with is a "little beer," and I don't even know what that's comprised of. Instead of looking up any reviews or known ingredients, I prefer to stay blind and treat this as any other "secret" imported liqueur, hoping it won't be overly sweet or overly focused on any of the many ingredients. The color is a beautiful golden honey and captures light very well; were it not for the texture and the movement in the glass, this would be difficult to distinguish from actual honey at a distance. The nose has a sharp beginning of bitterness and herbaceous notes, reminding me a lot of a genever, but a touch sweeter. The ethanol is surprisingly quite present here given the lower proof, and a full-bodied note of honey now also reminds me of Drambuie to an extent. The initial flavor isn't as noticeable and dominant as the initial texture, which is rich and viscous, but not necessarily sticky or thick. As it rolls around the mouth, honey and vanilla are super prominent, just on the edge of being too much (think "birthday cake syndrome"). The herbaceous, floral, and otherwise botanical flavor from the "genever" note on the nose presents itself first, once you get past all the sweetness, followed by a slightly spicy base layer of ethanol. The finish circles back to the sweetness, while the floral and herbal notes dig into the gums to create just a touch of a dry accompaniment. This is easily the sweetest liqueur that I've ever tasted that also doesn't taste too overdone or distracting. There have certainly been sweeter sugar bombs out there, but this lives just on the line of too much, and would deliver well if you were looking for a vanilla or honey flavored something that didn't hurt your teeth with the sweetness. Having said that, the very viscous texture that was initially unique and fun prevents drinking this at any kind of volume, and makes it difficult to get through even just 50ml. If you're a low proof sweetened liqueur lover and are looking for that next dessert beverage, give this a try, but expect a bottle to go a long way as far as volume goes.

Appearance: Transparent marigold yellow. Aroma: Intense vanilla with undertones of musky citrus, sandalwood, rose and cacao. Flavour and Texture: Very sweet vanilla with buttery spice notes. There are some complex nutty, citrus, honeyed and spice flavours lurking in the background but they never rise high enough in volume to challenge the loud vanilla presence. The texture is thick, luxurious and satiny and it finishes with a sweet chocolate fudge or toffee aftertaste. An unusual liquor, there is a lot going on but it is very much an intertwined profile with only vanilla standing out. It is just barely drinkable neat but exceptionally sweet – much too sweet for my palate - and I prefer it when used as an ingredient. Drinking it neat makes me imagine what drinking neat agave syrup would be like. It goes well as a topping over ice cream and it would probably be an interesting substitute in any cocktail where Galliano or Strega is normally used. It could also be an engaging variation in desserts that normally employ sugar syrup or honey, however the best use I can imagine for this is in black coffee. It's worth a taste and probably worth adding to the bar as an oddity if you happen to see it on special. I certainly don’t dislike it, but I have a feeling this bottle is going to last a very long time. The Distiller official review notes are good, but a score of 90 seems overly generous for what is, to me at least, a competent liqueur at best. However if you have a bottomless sweet tooth or really, really love the smell and taste of vanilla then you’ll be over the moon about this. By the way - Licor 43 also makes two other liqueurs that use this as a base - Horchata, which is a creamy herbal/nut liqueur, and Baristo which is a coffee liqueur. In my opinion both are superior to the original Licor 43. “Average” : 75/100 (2.5 stars)

Deceptively strong as it smells very sweet. The taste is sweet as well, but there is some boozy that is masked in the aroma. Definite flavour of vanilla; some honey as well. Less citrusy and less fruity than I was expecting (there is some citrus, but it is very much in the background). Not particularly herbal either (I thought this might be a Spanish amaro; it is not). Benedictine may be the closest comparable, but 43 has a more syrupy profile and stronger vanilla presence.

Tried this on-the-rocks at a resort in Cancun. Nose provides a strong vanilla and citrus aroma. State followed through with a fairly sweet vanilla, citrus, and tropical fruit flavor. Once the sweetness diminished, the flavor reminded me a bit of orange cough syrup mom gave me as a kid. Overall, not bad, but not something I would buy.

I recently rediscovered this by substituting it for triple sec. I didn't have any and this was the closest thing to it. I was making a lemon martini and by using Licor 43 it added this dark citrus and honey note that really made a simple lemon cocktail explode in complexity. Love this stuff.