This holiday season two unique luxury brands Catherine Malandrino and Cointreau, both brought to the States via France, have teamed up to deliver the ultimate gift bottle. Malandrino chose the symbol of the Statue of Liberty, arguably the best thing the French ever gave us, to mark the limited edition Cointreau bottle.

The Cointreau bottle has remained remarkably unchanged for nearly 160 years, making this one of the hottest collector's bottles of the season. Malandrino's romantic bottle remains true to the silhouette, but is dressed in stars and lace, calling to mind the signature detailed cuts and handicraft trims of her ready-to-wear collection.

Cointreau is a must to give our favorite cocktails that slight edge of "Je ne sais quoi" sweet and bitter oranges, making for the most perfect margaritas or cosmopolitans. Bring this luxury gift to your hostess this holiday season to spice up any cocktail hour.


Cointreau Cosmopolitan Recipe
2.5oz Vodka
1.5oz Cointreau
1oz Cranberry Juice
0.5oz lime juice
Shake and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with twist of orange to bring out the flavor of Cointreau.

The Royal Legacy of 1745 is a premium malt whisky liqueur offering recently unveiled by Drambuie. The product was created to celebrate the 100 years since the first commercial bottling of Drambuie in Edinburgh in 1909. The liqueur includes the "secret elixir" of herbs and spices in a recipe that has been unchanged for 260 years.The small batch product comes in an embossed decanter with a cork stopper and is presented in an individually authenticated presentation box with the bottling date, bottle number and signature of the Drambuie Master Blender. It has spice, citrus and toffee notes with subtle whisky flavors and sells for $229.

Modern Spirits, makers of the TRU Organic line of spirits we wrote about last fall, has introduced Fruit Lab, a collection of artisanal, 100% organic liqueurs designed to facilitate making all-organic cocktails at home and in bars. The collection - which includes Citry (orange), Crism (hibiscus) and Theia (jasmine) - complements the growing number of organic vodkas, rums, gins and tequilas on the market.

"With Fruit Lab, we set out to bring the garden to the glass with whole, organic ingredients and complete hand processing for uncompromising quality," says Melkon Khosrovian, co-founder of Modern Spirits. Named after the company's Los Angeles production facility, "The Fruit Lab," where all TRU organic spirits are crafted, Fruit Lab Liqueurs are now available for $29 per 750ml bottle.

Citry combines the familiar aromas and flavors of fresh Valencia and naval oranges with the scent of Bergamot and sour orange. Crism is a powerful balance of the sweet-sour nature of hibiscus flowers with floral aromas and tangy berry flavors. Theia is described as "like a night garden infused with flowering jasmine" and makes a great champagne cocktail.

Similar to how TRU Organic Spirits plants a tree for every bottle sold, Fruit Lab will donate a percentage of proceeds to The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, a San Diego-based nonprofit dedicated to planting edible, fruitful trees and plants to benefit needy populations and improve the surrounding air, soil, and water.

Dave Racicot, a former vice president of marketing for Campari/SKYY Spirits is going green with a line of organic liqueurs. Thatcher's Organic Artisan Liqueurs are a line of eight flavors: cucumber, elderflower, apple spice ginger, pomegranate, tres chili, dark chocolate, chipotle and blueberry. The liqueurs are USDA Organic certified and include: Cucumber, Elderflower, Apple Spice Ginger, Pomegranate, Tres Chili, Dark Chocolate, Chipotle, and Blueberry flavors. The liqueurs are ackaged in lightweight, recyclable glass bottles and the labels are made from recycled materials. They will retail for less than $25 a bottle and are being sold in Illinois and California so far.

[via Wine Spirits Daily]

Pistachios have been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons (salmonella) but one safe way to get your pistachio taste is in a liqueur. Dumante Verdenoce is a nut liqueur similar to others like Frangelico or Amaretto.

The liqueur was created by tax attorney and certified public accountant, Howard Strum, who says he decided to "make the best Italian liqueur on the planet." He tells the Courier-Journal that the nuts used come mostly from Sicily and the liqueur is produced in Italy. It first went to market in 2007 and is now gaining a wider market and is sold in eight states. Drinkhacker recently reviewed the liqueur, which sells for $38, and gave it an A- rating.

I haven't tried it yet but it's hard to miss the ads for Fragoli,a strawberry liqueur. The bottle is stuffed with small dark red strawberries suspended in the liqueur. The company promises that each pour, from first to last, will release an equivalent amount of little strawberries into each glass. The recommended drink is Fragoli and Prosecco in proportions similar to that of a Kir Royale. It sells for $35.99 in a package with a pair of Champagne flutes.

The maker of Italy's popular aperitif Campari has linked up with Italian coffee company Illy on a new coffee liqueur product called Illyquore. Guaranteed to give the Starbucks coffee liqueur and Kahlua a run for their money, the liqueur is to be launched in Italy in July and in the rest of the world in 2009. The new liqueur has adopted Illy's Arabica coffee taste without any additives. Illy will retain the brand rights and Campari will distribute.

Liqueurs from LOFT Liqueurs appear to have it going on from all angles: they come in decadent and unique flavors (i.e. Lavender, Lemongrass, and Spicy Ginger), they're handcrafted in small batches, and they're the first liqueurs in the country to be 100% certified organic.

Just two years ago LOFT Liqueurs was started by two women, Lisa Averbuch and Sabrina Moreno-Dolan, and was originally born through Lisa's experimentation with a random limoncello recipe. Besides the 3 standard flavors LOFT is looking to expand, starting with seasonal flavors like Tangerine and Blueberry. Look for LOFT Liqueurs in restaurants in California and you can buy them online here for $29.99/bottle.

Via Mighty Foods

These days biscotti come in many flavors but the traditional Italian biscotti often have a nut and anise flavor. Faretti Biscotti Famosi liqueur has a recipe based on nuts, fennel, citrus and caramel. The multilayered flavors mean that it can be paired with a wide variety of desserts or used in cream-based cocktails. The base of the liqueur is vodka and it is sweetened with beet sugar. The sweet treat sells for around $30 a bottle.

Combier Liqueur d'Orange, the clear and all-natural orange liqueur initially created in 1834, has finally made it to the States. Combier's artisinal crafted orange liqueur is made from fresh orange peels from the West Indies, sugar beets from the fields of Normandy and the family's secret ingredients from the Loire Valley. Combier uses a triple-distillation process distilling the ingredients in the same century-old copper stills first used by the Combier family itself. The liqueur sells for around $40.

There are as many different kinds of Valentines as there are ways to celebrate. While candy is dandy, we all know that liquor is quicker, and if you are creative, it can be pretty romantic. The act of mixing a cocktail, the measuring and shaking and combining,pouring it into the perfect glass and garnishing with just the right touch can show more care than just picking up a bouquet or a box of candy.

Everyone has their favorite tastes and so knowing what your Valentine, even if it's just a friend you are celebrating with, enjoys is key. Just as red roses are not everyone's favorite flower, not everyone swoons for a chocolate martini. And yet showing up with the same old bottle is no fun either. Showing up with something new gives you a chance to play and experiment. And it's easier than trying to bake something. It can even be lower calorie. For example, one ounce of the tempting new Cafe Boheme, a creme liqueur made with coffee French vodka with creme and vanilla has 75 calories. The liqueur, which is sweet without being cloying and doesn't have that oddly chalky taste I've noticed in some other creme liqueurs, can be used to make an espresso martini with vodka, a dollop of whipped cream and a garnish of chocolate covered coffee beans.

For wine pairing ideas for Valentine's Day check out the picks from Natalie MacLean here.

The gallery below includes ideas of liquors to choose for all kinds of evenings for the sweet and romantic, to the girls night in to the hot and spicy and even the right drink to bring your Gothic valentine.

The latest tequila-based import from Mexico is Espanta Suegras, a liqueur with herbal flavors that can serve as an aperitif or an after-dinner drink. The drink is based on an old family recipe that came to Mexico via Barcelona, Spain. Each bottle of Espanta Suegras comes with a blow out party favor which in Mexico are colloquially called "espanta suegras," literally meaning "the one for scaring off mothers-in-law." The new liqueur is currently available in Arizona, California, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wisconsin, and will be available in additional states soon. It sells for around $30.

Put together Irish whiskey, French cognac, a bit of honey and you get Celtic Crossing liqueur, a honey-flavored liqueur from Ireland. The liqueur can be used in coffee or combined with soda. It's from Castle Brands, the same folks behind Boru Vodka and they have a new campaign called Get Connected which allows people to go on the website and share stories of how they discovered Celtic Crossing. The liqueur sells for around $20.

Elderflower liqueur sounds like something old and fusty but St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur is a French artisanal drink with a light taste. The flower and fruit notes and the mild sweetness make it an excellent summer quaff. Our friend Jonathan over at Slashfood tested it out a few months ago and listed some excellent recipes for cocktails using St. Germain. It's natural companion is a light white wine (sparkling or not) to which it adds a very refreshing tang. This and Prosecco would make a great apertif on a warm night. The bottle design makes it pretty appealing too. It can be found online for $27.99.

A few months ago, Danny DeVito appeared on The View in an inebriated state. At the time he blamed it on too many Limocellos with George Clooney. In what should be an April Fool's joke but is actually real, De Vito is coming out with his own line of the lemon-flavored Italian liqueur. Danny DeVito's Premium Limoncello is produced and bottled on an estate of lemon trees on Italy's Sorrento peninsula. His Limoncello is made from the zest of the lemon to create a 60-proof liqueur best served very cold or over ice. The Limoncello is bottled in a black bottle with a transparent lemon on the front and a 750ml bottle will be $23.99.