Sweetdram Whisky Amaro

Sweetdram Whisky Amaro is a bitter whisky-based liqueur made with nine botanicals and honey.

The whisky roster is unusually serious for a liqueur: seven-year-old Ardmore from first-fill bourbon casks, North British single grain from virgin oak, and 12-year-old Invergordon from refill sherry casks, blended in house at this Edinburgh distillery. Nine botanicals go in after blending, namely hibiscus, allspice, rhubarb, coriander, lovage, kola, quassia, lemon and lingonberry, and the sweetening comes from Sussex blossom honey together with urban honey from rooftop hives in Edinburgh. Amaro and Scotch are not obvious partners, and the fact that this works is the whole point of it.

Bitter, balanced and startlingly coloured, with rhubarb, allspice, citrus peel and a bitter root finish carried on honeyed whisky. Serve it over a big cube, or top with soda for something longer. It also makes a good Scotch substitute for Campari in a Boulevardier.