Southern Comfort
Southern Comfort is a fruit-and-spice liqueur, 35% ABV on LWC’s UK listing, which files it with whisky liqueurs and says the UK bottle is made with American grain spirit. VinePair credits Martin Wilkes Heron, a New Orleans bartender, with inventing it in 1874, and the Sazerac Company bought it from Brown-Forman in 2016. In our recipes it supplies the peach, and the Comfortable, in the Slow Comfortable Screw Against the Wall.
Quick Facts
We keep it sealed and upright at room temperature, where it keeps for years. In our experience sugar and alcohol preserve it between them, so an open bottle needs no particular attention and will not fade the way a wine-based bottle would.
None of the 14 listed allergens. Made with grain spirit, but distillation removes gluten, so it is not labelled as a gluten allergen. Recipes change: check the bottle.
About Southern Comfort
Flavour Profile
Primary Flavours
Tasting Notes
Stone fruit and orange over vanilla-spiced whiskey warmth: the riverfront’s rough barrels, civilised by design.
A New Orleans liqueur first made with whiskey
VinePair credits Martin Wilkes Heron, a New Orleans bartender, with inventing it in 1874 on a whiskey base; he called it Cuffs & Buttons at first, and patented it in 1889. The recipe has changed since: VinePair says the whiskey base was replaced with neutral grain spirit for much of the time after Heron died, and that production returned to whiskey when the Sazerac Company bought the brand in 2016. Brown-Forman’s filing records that sale as completed on 1 March 2016.
It sits between a peach liqueur and a bourbon
It is sweeter than whiskey and stronger than most fruit liqueurs. That middle ground explains the spirit-sized pours, and why peach liqueur with bourbon is the way to rebuild it.
Southern Comfort between peach liqueur and bourbon (the UK strength from LWC’s listing; the other strengths are typical, and the rest is ours)
Strength
- Peach liqueur
- About 15 to 25%
- Southern Comfort (UK)
- 35%
- Bourbon
- 40% or more
Sugar
- Peach liqueur
- Yes, a lot
- Southern Comfort (UK)
- Yes
- Bourbon
- None
Tastes of
- Peach liqueur
- Peach
- Southern Comfort (UK)
- Peach, orange, vanilla and spice
- Bourbon
- Oak, vanilla, grain
In a spec
- Peach liqueur
- A modifier
- Southern Comfort (UK)
- A sweetened spirit
- Bourbon
- The base
| Peach liqueur | Southern Comfort (UK) | Bourbon | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | About 15 to 25% | 35% | 40% or more |
| Sugar | Yes, a lot | Yes | None |
| Tastes of | Peach | Peach, orange, vanilla and spice | Oak, vanilla, grain |
| In a spec | A modifier | A sweetened spirit | The base |
The Comfortable in the Slow Comfortable Screw
The Slow Comfortable Screw Against the Wall reads as a list of its ingredients: sloe gin for the slow, Southern Comfort for the comfortable, the screwdriver's orange juice and a Galliano float for the wall. The Southern Comfort is 15ml, built with vodka and sloe gin over ice, and it is the main source of peach in the glass.
In our experience, opened and at room temperature, it lasts for years. A bottle that tastes flat has simply been open a long time; the peach fades before anything else does.
Using Southern Comfort
Usage
15ml in the Slow Comfortable Screw Against the Wall, built over ice with vodka and sloe gin, topped with orange juice and floated with Galliano. Outside that, people take it over ice or lengthened. In a spec, treat it as a sweetened spirit: the sugar is already there.
Pro Tip
In the Slow Comfortable Screw, build the vodka, sloe gin and Southern Comfort over ice, top with orange juice and stir once, then float the Galliano. Stirring after the float muddies the layer the drink is served with.
Top Tips
- Never pour it in place of bourbon. It is sweet and flavoured, and it will throw a whiskey drink off balance.
- Work out a drink's units at 35%, the UK strength.
- The simplest serve is over ice, with a wedge of lime squeezed in.
- Peach liqueur with a splash of bourbon gets close if the bottle runs out.
Possible Substitutions
- Peach Liqueur: With a splash of bourbon: the deconstruction
- Apricot Brandy: The stone-fruit cousin, drier
Production Method
Spirit flavoured with fruit and spice, peach and orange among them, and sweetened. LWC’s UK listing names American grain spirit for the UK bottle, and VinePair says production returned to a whiskey base after the Sazerac Company bought the brand in 2016. The formula is private.
History & Context
VinePair says Martin Wilkes Heron, a New Orleans bartender, invented it in 1874 on a whiskey base. He first called it Cuffs & Buttons, which VinePair says was either a reference to citrus peel and cloves or a nod to another liqueur, Hat and Tails, and he patented it in 1889. The Spirits Business reports that Brown-Forman, which had owned the brand since 1979, confirmed its sale to the Sazerac Company in January 2016, and Brown-Forman’s own filing records the sale completed on 1 March 2016.
More to explore
Common Questions
What is Southern Comfort?
Is Southern Comfort a whiskey?
How strong is Southern Comfort?
What does Southern Comfort taste like?
What can I use instead of Southern Comfort?
What do you mix with Southern Comfort?
Sources.
Checked between 16 October and 19 October 2026.
- VinePair (Tim McKirdy), “Seven Things You Should Know About Southern Comfort” (named-author trade press: invented in 1874 by Martin Wilkes Heron; Cuffs & Buttons; patented 1889; whiskey base replaced by neutral grain spirit; Sazerac bought it in 2016 and whiskey returned).
- LWC, “Southern Comfort 70cl” (UK wholesaler’s listing (35%; whisky liqueur)).
- legislation.gov.uk, “Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, Annex II (retained)”.
- The Spirits Business (Amy Hopkins), “Brown-Forman sells Southern Comfort and Tuaca to Sazerac” (trade press: Brown-Forman had owned Southern Comfort since 1979; sale to Sazerac confirmed January 2016).
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Brown-Forman), “Form 8-K, 2 March 2016” (primary: Brown-Forman completed the sale of Southern Comfort and Tuaca to Sazerac on 1 March 2016).
- Southern Comfort (Sazerac Co), “Southern Comfort” (maker’s American site: “Spirit Whiskey with Natural Flavors, 21-50% Alc. by Volume”).
Made with Southern Comfort
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Often Used With
Updated 19 October 2026