Liqueurs

Southern Comfort

Southern Comfort is a fruit-and-spice liqueur made with whiskey, 35% ABV in the UK, where it is sold as Southern Comfort Original liqueur with whiskey. Martin Wilkes Heron began making it in New Orleans in 1874, and the Sazerac Company owns it now. In our recipes it supplies the peach, and the Comfortable, in the Slow Comfortable Screw Against the Wall.

Quick Facts

ABV35% ABV

Legal categoryLiqueurBritish bottles say liqueur with whiskey; in the US, a spirit whiskey with natural flavours

OriginNew Orleans, 1874

Flavour Strengthmedium

Our keeping timeYears unopened. Once opened, a year or more kept sealed and out of the light; the fruit and aromatics fade first.

Storage

Sealed and upright at room temperature, where it keeps for years. 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.

Allergens

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.

The ingredient

About Southern Comfort

Flavour Profile

Primary Flavours

PeachOrange SpiceWhiskey Warmth

Tasting Notes

Stone fruit and orange over vanilla-spiced whiskey warmth: the riverfront’s rough barrels, civilised by design.

A New Orleans liqueur made with whiskey

Martin Wilkes Heron, a bartender, began flavouring whiskey with fruit and spice in New Orleans in 1874. He moved to Memphis, bottled the result as Cuffs & Buttons, and renamed it Southern Comfort in the late 1890s. The recipe has changed since: for a time it was made on neutral spirit with whiskey flavouring, and the Sazerac Company, which owns it now, sells it in Britain as a liqueur with whiskey.

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

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 over whiskey
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 over whiskey	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 is usually read 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.

At room temperature, opened, it lasts for years. A bottle that tastes flat has simply been open a long time; the peach fades before anything else does.

Using it

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 and whiskey flavoured with fruit and spice, peach and orange among them, and sweetened. Its formula is private, and its base has changed over the years.

History & Context

Martin Wilkes Heron began flavouring whiskey with fruit and spice in New Orleans in 1874. He later moved to Memphis and bottled it as Cuffs & Buttons, renaming it Southern Comfort in the late 1890s. Brown-Forman owned the brand for many years before the Sazerac Company, also of New Orleans, bought it.

Go further

More to explore

Common Questions

What is Southern Comfort?

A sweet fruit-and-spice liqueur made with whiskey, first made in New Orleans in 1874 by Martin Wilkes Heron. In the UK it is 35% ABV and sold as Southern Comfort Original liqueur with whiskey. Peach, orange and vanilla are the flavours it is known for. The Sazerac Company owns it.

Is Southern Comfort a whiskey?

Not in Britain. Here the label says liqueur with whiskey: sweetened and flavoured, at 35% ABV. In the United States the label calls it a spirit whiskey with natural flavours. Either way it is not a straight whiskey, and it should not stand in for bourbon in a recipe.

How strong is Southern Comfort?

The standard UK bottle is 35% ABV, which our recipes count. American bottlings run at several strengths, and a 50% version has been sold to British bars. At 35% it is near spirit strength, so a 15ml pour adds a fair share of alcohol to a highball.

What does Southern Comfort taste like?

Sweet stone fruit, mostly peach, with orange, vanilla and warm spice over a light whiskey note. It is sweeter and softer than bourbon, yet recipes still pour it at a spirit's measure rather than a modifier's.

What can I use instead of Southern Comfort?

Peach liqueur with a splash of bourbon is the nearest rebuild: about two parts peach liqueur to one of bourbon, to the same total measure. Apricot brandy, a liqueur at about 25%, gives a drier stone-fruit note. Neither copies the spice, but in a highball with orange juice the gap is small.

What do you mix with Southern Comfort?

Orange juice, lemonade, cola and lime are the usual partners. In our recipes it goes into the Slow Comfortable Screw Against the Wall with vodka, sloe gin, orange juice and a Galliano float. Over ice with lime shows what the liqueur brings by itself.

Make something

Made with Southern Comfort

Featured In These Cocktails

Slow Comfortable Screw Against the Wall

Often Used With

Updated 10 October 2026

Back to Ingredients Guide