The flavor of licorice is most common in bourbon, but it can also be found in well-aged scotch and peated whiskies. JEFF HARRIS
If you’re a regular bourbon drinker, licorice will be a familiar flavor to your palate. While licorice is a recognizable aroma, it is more commonly detected as a flavor that carries through from the first sip and into the finish. It likely originates from the toasted and charred oak in the barrel, but it is also a flavor picked up in some peated whiskies and long-aged scotches matured in sherry casks. If flavors of star anise, fennel, tobacco, aniseed, cola, ginger, pepper, or pronounced oak influence are present, licorice may not be too far behind.
For thousands of years before it was made into candy, licorice was used in herbal remedies and traditional medicines where its active compounds were noted to affect the gastrointestinal, respiratory, immune, and cardiovascular systems. (In high doses, however, it can have harmful side effects.)
Licorice is derived from the rhizomes or underground roots of Glycyrrhia glabra, which are sought out for the glycyrrhizin or glycyrrhizic acid, which is said to be up to 50 times sweeter than sucrose. To make licorice, the roots are harvested, dried, and pulped so that licorice extract can be collected through steaming, maceration, and boiling, enabling it to be concentrated and cooled into the thick, black, sticky substance that begins to look more familiar to candy lovers. That’s not all that different from the processing of malted barley, as it is kilned, milled, mashed, and boiled in a distillery to concentrate the extract before being cooled into a desirable end product.
Commercially, licorice is used in throat lozenges, tea, syrups, flavorings, tobacco, and of course, lots of candy. Whether you like your licorice formed into soft chews, twists, wheels, coins, ripples, or allsorts, it remains one of the most classic confectionary flavors of all time. But it is also a polarizing flavor that some people vehemently dislike. Black licorice candy contains licorice extract, while red Twizzlers and Red Vines contain artificial fruit flavorings rather than licorice extract. Licorice candy is usually sweet, though the Dutch and some of the Nordic countries prefer a salty style. It’s also used to flavor beverages like porters and stouts, as well as liqueurs, bitters, and licorice-forward black sambucas. Koskenkorva Salmiakki liqueur from Finland is made from vodka and salty licorice. With no shortage of licorice cocktail recipes available online, there’s plenty of inspiration for the home whisky cocktail enthusiast as well.
These Whiskies Let the Licorice Talk
BLACK LICORICE: Barrell Cask Strength Blend of Straight Bourbons - baking spice, licorice, dark chocolate, and cooked cherry
LICORICE GUM: Glasgow 1770 Peated Single Malt Scotch - dried fig, woodsmoke, licorice gum, and cocoa powder
LICORICE ROOT: Sagamore Spirit Bottled in Bond Straight Rye - vanilla, licorice root, dark chocolate, and root beer
