Source for Luxardo Amaretto, Maraschino and other products?

[StriperGuy]

Swear I saw a recent thread on this topic, but search turned up nothing.

I had a Luxardo Amaretto at Eastern Standard recently and dang if it wasn't a ton better that DiSaronno. Less sweet, more subtle, complex, and heck Amaretto-y.

Does anyone know a Boston area liquor store with a good stock of Luxardo products. If the Amaretto is that good I might as well stock up.

[phatchris]

The Wild Duck in the North End stocks Luxardo Maraschino and the cherries as well. Not sure on the pricing, but they are usually very fair.

[MC Slim JB]

Stock Maraschino might suit you better: it's a bit dryer, lighter-bodied, and less complex. Makes a very nice Aviation cocktail.

I'm starting to see the Luxardo Amaretto (vastly superior to DiSaronno in my book, too) and Luxardo Sambuca in a few places, like Cirace's and Wild Duck in the North End, and Liquor Land in Roxbury.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[yarm]

Stock Maraschino might have been discontinued in the last few months from the rumors I've heard combined with bars that used to use it have been forced to switch over to Luxardo.

I believe a good bit of the Luxardo line can be found at Marty's in Newtonville. I've seen a smaller part of the line-up at Ball Square Liquors and elsewhere.

http://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/

[MC Slim JB]

Is that just in MA? I've had to start hoarding and self-importing all kinds of things: Amer Picon, Zwack Unicum (which I was told recently is no longer being exported to the States at all, in favor of the icky, Jager-like Zwack, called Zwack Next in Hungary), pacharan. The liquor distribution setup in this state blows.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[katzzz]

I was in Martinetti's last weekend buying some Luxardo maraschino and got into a conversation with one of the managers. I asked him why they no longer carry Stock maraschino -- or any other Stock products for that matter -- and he said they are no longer distributed in Massachusetts.
On a related note, anyone where you can get those Luxardo cherries for the best price. I saw them on sale at Formaggio's last week for $24, so I'm pretty sure I now know where to get them at the highest price!

[MC Slim JB]

The best deal I've seen on the Luxardo cherries locally is about $20 (including my last purchase of them at South End Formaggio).

The truly best deal is on the mega-can: $150 for 12 lbs, about half the cost by weight of the little jars. You probably need to put together a syndicate of cherry-lovers to make that one worthwhile: save those old 360-gm jars!

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[kitsune]

I have a hunch that I've seen Luxardo cherries at Liquor World in Porter Square for less than $20 (I want to say they were around $17), but I could be wrong. I'll check tonight and post a follow-up!

[kitsune]

$19 at Liquor World. Not as good of a price as I'd thought, but not bad.

[EvergreenDan]

The Boston Shaker (Davis Sq Somerville) has them for $20. I saw lots in stock. Unfortunately you'll probably walk out with $50 of bitters and other stuff. ;)

I should really try these, but I like the jarred unpreserved baking cherries from Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. They don't last forever, so I let my daughter eat them plain whenever the jar is getting old.

I've also rehydrated dried cherries with sprits. Are the Luxardo cherry that much better?

[MC Slim JB]

I've done the dried cherries rehyrdated with maraschino or brandy. I think they're pretty tasty and a comparative bargain, but esthetically far less appealing than the Luxardos: they're small, shrivelly, and pale brown in color. Fresh sour cherries when available, macerated in some strong spirit, are also good.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[nsenada]

I use TJs dried cherries too, reconstituted in brandy and sour cherry syrup. Have yet to try the Luxardo.

[barleywino]

i haven't done a price per ounce comparison with Luxardo but check out Amarena Fabbri cherries on amazon.com (I think Striper can confirm that these are great cherries ;)

[kimfair1]

I'm still working on my second jar of Luxardo cherries from when I bought the gift set last year, but would be willing to try a cheaper alternative. I only use the Luxardo ones for drink garnishes, but they are incredible.

[phatchris]

I got Amarena cherries from J pace last year, not the Fabbri though, and they tasted like cough syrup at about $20 a jar.

[barleywino]

haven't tried the non-Fabbri ones...were those the Amarena Toschi cherries? thanks for the warning

[phatchris]

Yes, I couldn't remember the name.

[cambridgedoctpr]

one of my friends lives in soho; whenever we pass Dean and DeLuca's; he always mentions: you can find better quality, but you will never pay more.

[StriperGuy]

Maraschino Liquor reconsidered: Was at Eastern Standard last night and finally had an Aviation Cocktail... my reaction... eh. Just not that exciting to me. I even asked the bartender for a taste of the straight Maraschino liquor. I thought it would be much more cherry kirsch like and less perfumey. I like some perfumey things, notably Howards Violet Chewing gum, but the Maraschino did not rock me.

That said had the Luxardo Amaretto again and it is so tasty. Way prefer it's subtler drier taste to the (what I now see as) almost cloyingly sweet taste of DiSaronno. That said, those Luxardo cherries do sound good. Will definitely pick up a bottle of the Luxardo Amaretto sooner or later. I have this taste for an Amaretto sour made with the Luxardo, not too much lemon, it would be awesome.

[kimfair1]

Eastern Standard makes their own Maraschino liquer, I believe. I have noticed that the Luxardo has a much stronger flavor. I really like the ES Aviation, but had to really decrease the amount of Luxardo to approximate the taste, compared to how much maraschino liquer they put in at ES.

[StriperGuy]

They used Luxardo in mine. Saw them pour it. Though later they did give me a taste of some other Maraschino in a generic looking bottle. Might have been the house-bottled. Did not really care for that either.

[rlh]

I agree about the Aviation - try a Refined Speech as an alternative - more gin, lemon instead of lime juice - more complex and better balanced IMHO - Misty at Drink made a memorable one for me a couple of weeks ago.

[kimfair1]

Got a great deal on the Luxardo Maraschino at Marty's in Newton the other day. 1 bottle luxardo and two jars of the yummy cherries. The cherries sell for $15 to $20 a jar, and the liquor is about $30. The package was $39.00. great deal, and the cherries will blow you away.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

We made a special trip over to the Newton Marty's tonight to see if they had any more of this deal. There were six left after we bought ours. I can't recommend the trip more highly: seriously, you're basically getting a jar and a half of the cherries for free. Cannot beat it.

[Scortch]

Agreed! That was my Christmas present to myself this year!

As for the amaretto, I don't know for sure if Marty's Newton has it in stock, but I do know that they had a slew of the other Luxardo products, Triple Sec, etc. Give 'em a call (or use the Maraschino deal as an excuse...).

BTW, I'll have to check out the amaretto myself as my DiSoranno is getting low.... Thanks!

[StriperGuy]

Cool, thanks. I did hit the Marty's in Brighton and they had some Luxardo products, but not the cherries deal. Sounds like I need to schedule a trip to Marty's Newton.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

I have never had time to just block out an hour and go into the Newton Marty's to wander the aisles. It's about three times the size of our Marty's, and looks endlessly fascinating.

[kimfair1]

Yeah the Newton Marty's blows the Allston Marty's away in terms of stock and choices. I'm glad everyone got the deal, those cherries are really to die for. I use them in any drink that calls for a maraschino cherry. You'll never eat another red dyed piece of junk again.

[Scortch]

Though I haven't yet taken advantage of it, from my understanding the Marty's in Allston can have stuff transferred from Newton as kind of a special order. So if you know that they have particular product (such as Marie Brizzard Apry) in Newton...

I don't know if they tack any additional $ onto this at all, but it is an option if you have a tough time getting to Newton but have a familiarity with their stock.

[natecsd]

Having never made the trip to the Newton Marty's, I took the plunge to grab the Maraschino deal. I also checked - they DO have Luxardo Amaretto on the shelf. And tons of other stuff - what a selection. And what high prices (compared with what Blanchards JP carries, at least...). Thanks for the tip!

[rlh]

Thanks for the tip - just called and was told no problem on the inventory level of the deal - currently 8 on the shelf and an unopened case in the back.

[kitsune]

Wow. I realize this thread is from last year, but does anyone happen to know if these sets are still available? I'd love to get my hands on one!

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

Not unless they got in a fresh batch over the holidays this year -- they're long since gone.

[kitsune]

I just gave them a call to check, and indeed, I am out of luck. Rats!

[ucratbo]

Just to clarify, not only does Marty's in Newtonville not offer the special deal, they don't carry the cherries at all anymore. Was there last night and asked.

[dfan]

The liquor store at the Fresh Pond mall (next to Whole Foods) has Luxardo Maraschino, and I remember seeing a few different Amarettos there though I don't recall if Luxardo was one of them.

[wittlejosh]

I've seen some of that stuff at Brix in the South End

[wrenhunter]

Yeah, I got the Maraschino at Brix a few weeks ago. Marty's has it too ... as well as Peychaud's!

[dfan]

I checked this weekend while I was there. No Luxardo amaretto (they had three other amarettos, though, including the DiSaronno of course) but they did have Luxardo limoncello.

[MC Slim JB]

I've found that the Luxardo Maraschino is easier to come by than the Amaretto. I think I saw both products at the Blanchard's in JP the other day. (I scored some Zwack Unicum there, myself).

[Allstonian]

I've seen Luxardo maraschino, and their cherries, at Martignetti's within the past week. Didn''t see the amaretto, but I wasn't looking at amarettos at all, so for all I know it was there.