Caramel Whisky Liqueur

Caramel Whisky Liqueur from Piekfeine Brände with Sea Salt

Caramel Whisky Liqueur from Piekfeine Brände is a caramel liqueur based on their in-house VAN LOON Single Malt from Bremen. A pinch of sea salt keeps the sweetness in check, which is why the manufacturer simply calls it Sea Salted.

Caramel Whisky Liqueur is the salted caramel whisky liqueur from Piekfeine Brände in Bremen, crafted by Birgitta Schulze van Loon. Instead of purchased neutral alcohol, it contains her own single malt, distilled in the same harbor warehouse – 20% ABV, 350 ml, clear amber color.

Butter caramel, toffee, and a salty edge

The first impression is butter cookies and warm toffee, followed immediately by the salt, which takes the intensity out of the sweetness.

It is not creamy, but clear like a spirit – anyone thinking of thick cream liqueurs when they hear "caramel" will be surprised. The body comes solely from the sugar and the barrel, not from milk.

What remains is a liqueur that is silky, buttery, and malty, never becoming sticky. The whisky works in the background, laying a faint trail of smoke under the caramel that you only notice on the second sip. This interplay is exactly what distinguishes it from caramel liqueurs that taste only like candy.

Salt and sugar are old allies. A few grains of sea salt don't make caramel salty, but rather properly caramel-like – they sharpen the flavor instead of masking it. That is exactly why the label says Sea Salted and not just caramel.

On ice, over dessert, in coffee

Serve it cool, with a single large ice cube that opens it up slowly without watering it down.

Drizzled over a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it becomes a sauce; on a lukewarm chocolate cake, it makes for a perfect finale; and in an espresso, it creates a coffee for which you will gladly stay seated a little longer in the evening. The liqueur loves anything baked: apple tart, waffles, rice pudding with cinnamon. It is also worth considering with blue cheese, as salt meets salt and sweetness meets savoriness.

It also has a place at the bar, perhaps as a sweet component in a Whisky Sour or over crushed ice with a shot of cold coffee. And because 20% ABV isn't much, there's still room for conversation afterward.

A small tag with the house motto hangs from the neck of the bottle, making it a gift that needs no further embellishment. Unwrap, set out, open.

A single malt that gets to be in the liqueur

Most caramel liqueurs are based on neutral alcohol – this one is based on VAN LOON, the first Hanseatic single malt whisky.

Distilled with heart and hand, is how Birgitta Schulze van Loon describes her work, and the VAN LOON is her proof: she has been distilling it herself since 2015 and aging it in wooden barrels before a portion of it ends up in this liqueur.

The fact that a distillery puts its own whisky into a liqueur instead of selling it separately at a high price is the real news about this bottle.

This very attitude permeates the entire company: liqueurs are created from their own distillates instead of purchased alcohol. You can see how that tastes in the whisky's clear form in the Orange Liqueur with Whisky, and you can find the entire range at Piekfeine Brände. If you prefer something creamy and nutty, try the Hazelnut Liqueur.