Cherry Heering
A Danish cherry liqueur with a deep, slightly tart cherry flavor - key to the Singapore Sling.
Origin
Copenhagen, Denmark, founded in 1818 by Peter F. Heering, using a cherry liqueur recipe passed to him by his employer's wife.
History
Peter Heering was a young clerk trading colonial goods in Copenhagen when he received a cherry cordial recipe from the wife of the pharmacist he apprenticed for, and he began producing it commercially in 1818. Ship captains started carrying it as cargo, spreading its reputation to ports from Calcutta to Shanghai, and it earned royal endorsements from the Danish court in 1876, the Russian Imperial court in 1878, and the British King in 1901. It remains best known today as the essential cherry liqueur in the Singapore Sling, a role no ordinary cherry brandy fully replicates given its distinctive depth. The Heering company was acquired by DeKuyper in 2017.
Flavor profile
Rich, dark cherry flavor with a noticeable brandy-like depth and a bittersweet, slightly tart edge rather than straightforward candy sweetness.
Tasting notes
Deep, dark cherry with real complexity: sweet but backed by a tartness and a faint almond-like bitterness from the cherry pits traditionally included in production, giving it far more depth than a generic cherry liqueur.
Substitutes
- A high-quality cherry brandy or cherry liqueur, understanding the result will taste noticeably simpler and sweeter.
- Kirsch (cherry eau-de-vie) with a touch of added sugar, as a drier approximation.
- Luxardo Maraschino with a splash of cherry juice, as a rough, less ideal stand-in.
