Note: In business since 1821, Luxardo has a long tradition of making all sorts of various liqueurs almost all of them winning high praise from various organizations and individuals in the trade. As usual with this firm, they take special care with sourcing their ingredients to use only almonds from Avola in southern Sicily- considered by some the best almonds in the Mediterranean. Other amarettos use cheaper alternatives such as apricot pits, concentrated essences, or worse yet, chemical equivalents, as I refer to artificial flavors.

First Impression:The marzipan scent is full-on at first whiff, then settles down into a fresh almond pastry smell, sweet with a hint of dryness/bitterness around the edges, it is a more spare and ascetic Amaretto that does not have the plasticizer/gel body that many Amaretto suffer from, among some of their other myriad sins.

Appearance: Copper/bronze. Clear as the glass it was poured into.On swirling leaves light coating on glass, then develops some legs.

Taste: True to the bouquet, the taste is of a high quality marzipan or almond paste, while sweet, it is nutty. Not overly sticky but wonderful body.

Drinks: For the most part I do not care for amaretto drinks, mainly because most amaretto is overly sticky and sweet. This liqueur is proving to be a welcome change in both my opinion on amaretto and the resulting cocktails. I particularly liked it in a Toasted Almond, among others.

Bottle: Tall, somewhat rectangular glass bottle with somewhat plain but classic label, and large, red cork closure.

Other: Luxardo produces a number of other quality products.

Final Thoughts: A refreshing change from the sticky syrupy that a lot of companies try to pass off as amaretto. While distinctly different from the French style of amaretto, this Italian amaretto is a standout.

Website: http://www.preissimports.com or http://www.luxardo.com

Slow-loading webpage with attractive graphics, drinks recipes, and information (in the case of Luxardo that is).