Apricot Brandy
Apricot brandy is a liqueur made from apricots, not a brandy: the fruit soaked in spirit with sugar added, usually 20 to 30% ABV, and 25% in our recipes. Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, retained in British law, lets a liqueur keep the old name only with the word liqueur printed beside it. In our Angel Face and Charlie Chaplin it supplies both sugar and fruit.
Quick Facts
Sealed and upright. In our experience an open bottle holds for many months.
None of the 14 listed allergens. Recipes vary by brand: check the bottle.
About Apricot Brandy
Flavour Profile
Primary Flavours
Tasting Notes
Ripe apricot jam with a bitter-almond kernel underneath: sweet, perfumed and warmer than its colour suggests.
The name predates the law that governs it now
Apricot brandy is a liqueur: apricots steeped in spirit, sweetened, and bottled well short of brandy strength. GB spirit drink law lists apricot brandy among five compound names, with prune, orange and cherry brandy and blackcurrant rum, that liqueurs may still use, provided the word liqueur appears in immediate proximity on the label. If its alcohol is not brandy, the label must state the alcohol used.
Apricot liqueur and apricot spirit are opposites
Ferment and distil apricots instead and you get apricot spirit, an eau de vie that is dry, clear and at least 37.5% ABV. It shares the fruit and nothing else, so our recipes rule it out, except for the 5ml of dry apricot brandy in the Hotel Nacional.
Apricot brandy against apricot spirit (categories, minimum strengths, sugar and the flavouring rule from Regulation (EC) No 110/2008; typical strengths and uses are ours)
Legal category
- Apricot brandy
- Liqueur
- Apricot spirit (eau de vie)
- Fruit spirit
Strength
- Apricot brandy
- Usually 20 to 30%; our recipes assume 25%
- Apricot spirit (eau de vie)
- At least 37.5%
Sugar
- Apricot brandy
- At least 100 g a litre
- Apricot spirit (eau de vie)
- Dry; the law forbids flavouring
Made by
- Apricot brandy
- Steeping apricots in spirit and sweetening
- Apricot spirit (eau de vie)
- Fermenting and distilling apricots
Use
- Apricot brandy
- Sweetener and flavour in a mixed drink
- Apricot spirit (eau de vie)
- Usually sipped on its own
| Point | Apricot brandy | Apricot spirit (eau de vie) |
|---|---|---|
| Legal category | Liqueur | Fruit spirit |
| Strength | Usually 20 to 30%; our recipes assume 25% | At least 37.5% |
| Sugar | At least 100 g a litre | Dry; the law forbids flavouring |
| Made by | Steeping apricots in spirit and sweetening | Fermenting and distilling apricots |
| Use | Sweetener and flavour in a mixed drink | Usually sipped on its own |
Four recipes rely on it for their sugar
In the Angel Face it takes an equal share with gin and calvados, and nothing else sweetens the drink. The Charlie Chaplin sets it against equal parts of sloe gin and lime, and the Paradise uses 20ml with gin and orange juice. The Hotel Nacional is the exception: Baker’s 1939 recipe asks for a teaspoon of dry apricot brandy, so it takes the dry spirit described below, not this liqueur. Because the liqueur supplies the sugar, a bottle that tastes of boiled sweets rather than fruit carries straight through to the glass.
Using Apricot Brandy
Usage
30ml in an Angel Face or a Charlie Chaplin, where no other sugar goes in; 20ml in a Paradise; The Hotel Nacional takes 5ml of the dry spirit instead. Cut other sugar when you add it to a recipe of your own.
Pro Tip
In the Charlie Chaplin, equal measures of lime, sloe gin and apricot brandy give a sweet bottle nowhere to go. If the drink tastes of jam, take a few millilitres off the apricot rather than adding more lime.
Top Tips
- Look for the word liqueur on the label, and for real fruit rather than flavouring in the description.
- Apricot eau de vie, a dry spirit of 37.5% or more, is no swap for apricot brandy in these recipes.
- Taste a new bottle first. Brands vary in sugar, and in a drink of three equal parts the difference shows.
- Keep it shut and out of bright light; the fruit fades long before anything spoils.
Possible Substitutions
- Peach Liqueur: The nearest other stone fruit: similar sweetness, slightly less strength
Production Method
Apricots, sometimes with apricot juice or apricot spirit, are steeped in spirit, then sweetened to at least 100 g of sugar a litre, the liqueur minimum in Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, and bottled at about 20 to 30%. If the alcohol is not brandy, Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 requires the label to say what it was made from.
More to explore
Common Questions
What is apricot brandy?
Is apricot brandy actually brandy?
How strong is apricot brandy?
Is apricot brandy the same as apricot eau de vie?
What can I use instead of apricot brandy?
How long does apricot brandy keep once opened?
Sources.
Checked between 16 October and 19 October 2026.
- legislation.gov.uk, “Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, Annex II (retained)”.
- Giffard, “Abricot du Roussillon” (producer’s product page (slow maceration of Roussillon apricots; 25%)).
- Charles H. Baker Jr. (1939), Internet Archive, “The Gentleman’s Companion, Volume II: An Exotic Drinking Book” (primary source: the Nacional Hotel Special lists “Dry apricot brandy, 1 tsp”).
Made with Apricot Brandy
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Updated 19 October 2026