French Walnut Liqueur?

I was fondly remembering way back to the mid to late 90's at the Sams Liquors on Marcey St. This due to the fact that The Marcey St. & Jefferson St Binny's has a huge but rather unimaginative Liqueur selection I noticed the other day. Back when the great Joe C. was buying for them (Sams), there seemed to be such great variety. Binny's now not so much.

Trying to move on with my life but a particular Walnut Liqueur sticks in my mind as being one of the most sublime drinks to roll across my tongue ever. It was in a small bottle, I believe it was French with a cognac base. Does this ring a bell with anyone out there? I'd love to find some more before I die.
It definitely wasn't a nocello (Italian)

Thanks ahead of time

There's a Swiss walnut liqueur called Nux Alpina -- I bought some as a gift a few weeks ago at West Lakeview Liquors. Is that the bottle you remember?

West Lakeview Liquors
2156 West Addison Street, Chicago, IL 60618
773.525.1916

No that's not it but it certainly looks worth a try next time in at Lakeview - definitely one of my favorite shops.

Thanks

The nux alpina (product of Austria) is a distinctive, boldly-flavored liqueur but a little goes a long way. I usually dispense it from an eye-dropper when using it in cocktails (generally as a rinse or a float). Its base spirit is a double-distilled grape brandy and unlike Nocello, it doesn't contain caramel color. Good stuff.

=R=

The way I remember it was that the liqueur wasn't overly sweet, I want to say it was about 60 proof and it wasn't overtly spiced. It was very brandy-y. The walnut flavor was fully integrated and balanced. I drank this as an after dinner drink usually in a snifter with no additions.
It was very elegant.
Back in the day Joe C. would order at his own discretion and tasting samples were easy to come by. This was probably a bottling from a small regional distiller. I saved the bottle for years to remind me to get more but when moving 4 years ago it was pitched of course. I thought it was a Francois Peyrot bottling but no. Now my brain don't werk so gud no more. I don't remember nuttin'.

BigDCB wrote:The way I remember it was that the liqueur wasn't overly sweet, I want to say it was about 60 proof and it wasn't overtly spiced. It was very brandy-y. The walnut flavor was fully integrated and balanced. I drank this as an after dinner drink usually in a snifter with no additions.
It was very elegant.
Back in the day Joe C. would order at his own discretion and tasting samples were easy to come by. This was probably a bottling from a small regional distiller. I saved the bottle for years to remind me to get more but when moving 4 years ago it was pitched of course. I thought it was a Francois Peyrot bottling but no. Now my brain don't werk so gud no more. I don't remember nuttin'.

LOL, understood.

The spirit you describe sounds great. While noodling around and looking for it (unsuccessfully), I did come across Charbay's Black Walnut Liqueur - Nostalgie, which, while quite pricey, looks very interesting. From what little I know, I'm guessing that the product you had back in the day was produced from green walnuts (as most of the European-made versions seem to be), while this Charbay product is produced from black walnuts, which can be deliciously funky. Still at $75 for 375 ml bottle, I'm not rushing to order it.

=R=

Son of a Gun!
That's the stuff! Could have sworn it was french but probably the name looked frenchified enough to my unsophisticated eyes. The label is different but it is Charbay. I don't remember it being that expensive but this was back in 96 when I was working at Sam's and with a discount(10 - 15%?). I don't know if I can afford it either right now but it's certainly in my future. I highly recommend it.

Ronnie Suburban you are a gentleman and a scholar and apparently wicked on Google!

Thank you

BigDCB wrote:Son of a Gun!
That's the stuff! Could have sworn it was french but probably the name looked frenchified enough to my unsophisticated eyes. The label is different but it is Charbay. I don't remember it being that expensive but this was back in 96 when I was working at Sam's and with a discount(10 - 15%?). I don't know if I can afford it either right now but it's certainly in my future. I highly recommend it.

Ronnie Suburban you are a gentleman and a scholar and apparently wicked on Google!

Thank you

LOL, my pleasure. I definitely learned some stuff while searching around, which makes me especially appreciative of your inquiry.

Cheers!

=R=

In one of those weird coincidences of having never heard of something before and then seeing it mentioned twice in just a few hours' time, I read this posting early this morning, and then shortly after saw an article in today's Chicago Tribune Sunday section about Koval distillery's small-batch liqueurs, including a walnut.

I can't find the article itself online right now, but here is a link to the product at Binny's:
http://www.binnys.com/spirits/Koval_Walnut_Liqueur_40385.html

Thanks for that. I had my hand on a bottle last week but I didn't pull the trigger since I am obsessed with the Charbay. I know Koval has made quite a name for themselves in such a short time. I'm sure thats a reflection of the quality products they seem to release regularly.