Whatever you choose to name it, Southern Comfort, SoCo, Cuffs & Buttons is a cocktail with more mystery than you realise. You’ve likely seen pictures of Janis Joplin holding a bottle at some time in your life, or you’ve personally met this drink, but have you ever given it any thought?
The majority of people associate whiskey with Southern Comfort. “Southern Comfort Whiskey” is one of the most frequent search phrases, according to Google’s search trends. Furthermore, that bottle of brown liquor that often appears next to the whiskey at your neighbourhood liquor shop is not really whiskey. Or is it a whiskey? Or a Scotch? Its golden hue shouldn’t get you confused.
Originally known as Cuffs & Buttons, Southern Comfort bourbon is really a whiskey-flavoured liqueur. Martin Wilkes Heron came up with the original recipe in New Orleans. Heron was a bartender trying to figure out how to add some flavour to raw whiskey. His consumers adored the mixture he developed, which combined hard liquor with fruits and spices. He started selling his formula, which he eventually nicknamed Southern Comfort, after being inspired by their thirst.
Our thorough investigation led us to the following conclusion, even if the exact formula is kept under wraps: Southern Comfort is comprised entirely of fruit, spices, and a grain-neutral alcohol base (essentially vodka), with a small amount of bourbon added sometimes.
Tasting Notes:
- Nose: Dried and candied peach, cinnamon, and star anise.
- Colour: Medium amber-gold tint.
- Palate: The taste of vanilla beans is immediately pleasing and powerful. As one would anticipate from a whiskey-based liqueur (mass-produced), the whiskey component tastes delicious, and it gives the flavour profile a refreshing quality that is enhanced by the pungent spice notes of black cracked pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, and star anise.
- Finish: There is a hint of spice in the hard candy finish of peaches and maraschino cherries, but it intensifies and tastes almost like cold medication. Additionally, the alcohol is noticeable, with a little burn and numbness toward the end.
When whiskey ceases to be whiskey
In alcohol, boundaries aren’t always obvious, but they aren’t entirely arbitrary either. A basic alcohol is flavoured with spices and sweets to create a liqueur. There are several options for the base spirit, including rum, vodka, whiskey, and neutral grain spirits. The complete list of ingredients in Southern Comfort is kept under wraps, but whiskey is the foundation alcohol. After that, a fruit concentrate and sugar are added to give Southern Comfort its distinctive apricot taste.
Key Takeaway:
Despite having whiskey as a component, Southern Comfort is more accurately described as a liqueur with a whiskey foundation. This won’t really negatively affect most Southern Comfort drinkers. Most people know it’s neither bourbon or rye, whether you call it flavoured whiskey, spirit whiskey, or whiskey liqueur.
If we were to be technical, it could get confused when a whiskey changes into something else. Scotch, after all, has peat flavouring. The peat is only burned and blown over the barley rather than added to the drink itself, although the difference isn’t significant. Perhaps we might approach it this way: even if whiskey is present, a premixed Jack and Coke in a can is obviously not whiskey. We are on the correct road if we consider Southern Comfort more akin to a premixed cocktail than a single-barrel bourbon.
