Old Sugar Factory’s Honey Liqueur

Originally published in 2013 for Scapegoats and Panaceas.

photo credit: Caleb Baumann-Gall @cb_photographyaccount

An allergy to all wheat-based alcohols—distilled or otherwise—leaves me with very limited options when it comes to the enjoyment of cocktails and spirits. I’ve grown pretty cozy with the classic dark-n’-stormy (equal parts ginger beer and dark rum), but I worry that I’ll still be drinking them in a retirement home at 85.

Enter Madison’s own Old Sugar Distillery. While their Cane and Abe rum is nothing to sniff at, I’ve taken a special liking to their Honey Liqueur, a velvety spirit distilled from beet sugar, with just a bit of the eponymous honey (local to Wisconsin) mixed in at the tail end. It’s smooth and elegant, but not too sweet, and it holds up just fine on its own or over a couple of cubes.

And it turns out the other Old Sugar spirits are wheat free too. Who knew that sorghum whiskey was a thing? I didn’t. I’m just glad I don’t have to ride out another summer on mojitos.