Mandarine Napoleon Liqueur (Mandarin Liqueur) 38%

Description

Mandarine Napoleon Liqueur is an orange-citrus liqueur produced using aged Cognacs and exotic Mandarin oranges from Sicily. 

Mandarins were introduced into Europe from China in the 18th century and were found to grow particularly well in Corsica, Napoleon Bonaparte’s birthplace. The story behind the creation of this liqueur is that macerated mandarins in Cognac were a personal favourite of Napoléon. In fact, it was Napoléon’s physician, Antoine-Francois de Fourcroy, who first had the idea of macerating mandarins in alcohol and then blending the distillate with Cognac, a drink they would often share.

Later on, in the 19th century,  a Belgian chemist named Louis Schmidt, discovered the recipe of Napoléon’s favourite drink in Fourcroy’s diary and decided to create a liqueur based on the recipe. Today, it is one of the great classic liqueurs of the world. It has been owned by De Kuyper, one of the most famous liqueur producers, since 2009 and is produced  at the Distillerie de Biercée in Biercée, Belgium.

Mandarine Napoleon Liqueur was commercially distilled in 1892, using the finest aged French Cognacs and Mandarin peels from the Mediterranean area. Today it is made in a similar method using only the best, hand-picked mandarins from Sicily both freshly chopped mandarins and dried mandarin peel are macerated separately. These are then blended together with an infusion of herbs and spices. The botanicals include clove from India, nutmeg from Indonesia, cinnamon from Sri Lanka, angelica from Belgium, green tea from China and black tea from Sri Lanka. The distillate is then aged for several years, acquiring a rich mellow flavour. 

Bottled at 38% ABV.