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Southern
Comfort is a fruit, spice, and whiskey flavored liqueur produced since 1874. It is made
from a blend of whiskey, peach, orange, vanilla, sugar, and cinnamon flavors. The
Brown-Forman Corporation owns the Southern Comfort brand.
Southern Comfort (often referred to as "SoCo") is available as 100 US proof (50%
alcohol by volume), 76 US proof (38% alcohol by volume), 70 US proof (35% alcohol by
volume) and 42 US proof (21% alcohol by volume). In Australia and New Zealand, it is only
available as 60 proof. It is often erroneously thought to be bourbon whiskey based—it
is actually neutral grain spirits-based,and the brown look comes from caramel
coloring.Southern Comfort Reserve, however, is a blend of Southern Comfort and 6-year-old
bourbon and is 80 proof.
History
Southern Comfort was first produced by Irish bartender Martin Wilkes Heron (b. 1850 –
c. 1920), the son of a boat-builder. Legend says it was at McCauley’s Tavern at the
corner of Richard and St. Peter Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana.
However, St. Peter Street and Richard Street do not intersect, but Richard Street does
intersect with S. Peters Street in the Lower Garden District near the Mississippi River.
He later moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1889, patented his famous creation, and began
selling it in sealed bottles with the slogan "None Genuine But Mine" and
"Two per customer. No Gentleman would ask for more." Southern Comfort won the
gold medal at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri.
In an episode of The Thirsty Traveler entitled "A River of Whiskey" spirits
historian Chris Morris describes the original recipe of Southern Comfort. Heron would
begin with the best bourbon he could find and would add: "An inch of vanilla bean,
about a quarter of a lemon, half of a cinnamon stick, four cloves, a few cherries and an
orange bit or two. He would let this soak for days. And right when he was ready to finish
he would add this sweetener, he liked to use honey."
The plantation depicted on the label of Southern Comfort since the 1930s is Woodland
Plantation, an antebellum mansion in West Pointe a la Hache, a small town in Plaquemines
Parish, Louisiana. Woodland Plantation, which is registered on the National Register of
Historic Places, now operates as a bed and breakfast. |
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