Southern Comfort
35% ABV/70 Proof
$12 to $15 for 750ml
Website
What the Distillery Says:
Not much really. The company website actually redirects you to Wikipedia. Here’s what Wikipedia says:
Southern Comfort (often abbreviated in English to SoCo) is an American liqueur made from neutral spirits with fruit, spice and whiskey flavourings. The brand was originally created by bartender Martin Wilkes Heron in New Orleans in 1874,[citation needed] and is now owned by the Brown-Forman Corporation. Although the original product contained whiskey, the current formula for Southern Comfort only contains whiskey-tasting flavouring rather than actual whiskey (except for the premium version called “Special Reserve”).
In the US Southern Comfort is available as 100 US proof (50% alcohol by volume), and 70 US proof (35% alcohol by volume). Southern Comfort Special Reserve, found in duty-free shops, is a blend of Southern Comfort and bourbon, and is 80 US proof. Southern Comfort Lime, released in the Summer of 2010, is 55 proof (27.5% alcohol by volume) and Southern Comfort Fiery Pepper, released in the Fall of 2011, is 70 proof (35% alcohol by volume).
Southern Comfort also produces Ready-To-Pour cocktails available in the US including Southern Comfort Sweet Tea, Southern Comfort Hurricane and Southern Comfort Lemonade, which are all 30 proof (15% alcohol by volume).
Southern Comfort has expanded over the years and has several product offerings globally. Outside the US, Southern Comfort produces single-serve cocktails, including Southern Comfort Lemonade and Lime in the UK and Southern Comfort and Cola in Australia.
Outside of the Americas, Southern Comfort is produced and bottled in Dublin, Ireland.
What Richard Says:
Nose: How do you really describe the smell of Southern Comfort? It’s like describing what apples smell like. Other things smell like SoCo, SoCo doesn’t smell like other things. Even still, vanilla, lemon, oranges, and cinnamon are the most pronounced notes that I get.
Palate: Cherries, vanilla, simple syrup, and cloves.
Finish: Here’s the only place I get any hint of whiskey, even though it’s only whiskey flavoring. SoCo actually finishes a little shorter and cleaner than you might expect. Most syrupy liqueurs seem to never go away.
Comments: I guess this was an early sort of introduction to whiskey for me. Long before Matt and I spent long hours contemplating that first bottle of Bushmills, he showed up at my door with a bottle of SoCo. Okay, so Southern Comfort isn’t really a whiskey liqueur. Today it’s made with neutral spirits and whiskey flavoring. Still, when you say “whiskey liqueur” more often than not Southern Comfort will be pretty close to the top of the list people start naming. SoCo is a classic. Is it something I’m dying to drink glass after glass of? No. However, it still holds its own and stands out among today’s growing sea of liqueurs. While I’m not going to down glasses of it I’ll still drink my share in an Alabama Slammer.
Rating: Stands Out
I was born in 1939. In the 1960s I was a barman, and later, a bar manager at a country club in Virginia,USA. Southern Comfort was popular with our members, and I enjoyed an ounce or 3 ‘on the rocks’ myself on special occasions. I recently bought a litre bottle , labeled “SOUTHERN COMFORT””EST. 1874” “Original”” H.W. Heron. New Orleans”. I paid for it and brought it home without reading the label . Now, having read the labels-front and back, I feel I have been misled. Why was it deemed appropriate to repeatedly change this traditional drink, and repeatedly and falsely label it “Original” ? I am prepared to give it a try. But, I suspect, I have no idea what it will taste like.