Southern Comfort

[cowdery]

I deliberately put this in this thread because I learned earlier this week that Southern Comfort does contain bourbon. This is a change, though I don't believe it is a recent one. I know for a fact that when Brown-Forman bought the brand in 1979, and for several years thereafter, it contained not a drop of whiskey. The base alcohol was 100 percent GNS. I now know that at some point along the line that was changed and today Southern Comfort contains about 20 percent bourbon. What bourbon? Something else of Brown-Forman's, so either Old Forester or Early Times.

At 20 percent, it would qualify to be called a blended whiskey, except it probably contains too much sugar for a blended whiskey and must, therefore, be classified as a liqueur. The rest of the alcohol in the product is GNS and it is further flavored by a concentrate of about 20 natural fruit flavors, dominated by apricot.

[OscarV]

Wasn't the original Southern Comfort made with bourbon, back in the late 1800's?

And the original name was something like Cuffs and Collars?

[cowdery]

Wasn't the original Southern Comfort made with bourbon, back in the late 1800's?

And the original name was something like Cuffs and Collars?

I used to know the history very well, but that was 20 years ago. I remember something about that name. As for whether or not it contained "bourbon," I believe it contained unaged Kentucky corn whiskey in the beginning. I became convinced that it was intended to resemble cognac.

By the end of the 19th century, I believe it was entirely a concoction. It was always supposed to be taken for a whiskey or, at best, a flavored whiskey, but I'm not sure it ever was. I know that it wasn't and hadn't been when Brown-Forman bought it in 1979. It's possible that it contained some whiskey before prohibition. I don't believe it has contained any since prohibition until maybe ten years ago.

The problem is, the ruse was very successful. Grossman said it was a combination of Kentucky bourbon and peach brandy, which it wasn't, but that was repeated in many places. When I worked on the brand in the first years of Brown-Forman's ownership, it was a combination of GNS, sugar and a flavoring syrup.

[smokinjoe]

Chuck, wasn't the true, original name Old Leg-Spreader? Thought I read that somewhere.

JOE

[ILLfarmboy]

I have often thought about replicating Southern Comfort using a wheater like Old Weller Antique as a base. It's sweet instead of spicy. And the high proof would stand up to dillution.

Though It's been almost twenty years since I've had any. I remember how sickly sweet it was. Sickly being the operative word. I wouldn't want something as sweet as the real thing but it might be nice to experiment. Perhaps soaking dehydrated apricots/peaches ect. in the bourbon with the adition of some simple syrup.

[ILLfarmboy]

Chuck, wasn't the true, original name Old Leg-Spreader? Thought I read that somewhere.

JOE

I belive we called it "liquid panty remover". Just dont don't drink too much of it yourself. A hard lesson for a 17 yr. old kid. (see my previous post)

[cowdery]

Chuck, wasn't the true, original name Old Leg-Spreader? Thought I read that somewhere.

JOE

It goes by many names.

[Plicata23]

I am new to this webpage and this is my first post. Im looking to find information on a bottle of Southern Comfort that i found the other week at my grandparents house. It is like no other Southern Comfort i have seen. The color is a more yellow then other bottles of SC i have seen. I wasnt able to find a date on it but from the look of the box it must be atleast 20yrs old. It reads 86 proof which is normal for SC but the color is just throwing me off. the distilled No. is 001033919 if that could get me more information on it. It came in a green box with no real markings on it but the picture found on the SC bottle itself. Let me know if there is anything you can tell me about this certain type of SC. Thank you

[cowdery]

As a liqueur, Southern Comfort is not as stable as a true whiskey, and its color and taste can change over time, especially if it was exposed to direct sunlight. That could account for the peculiar color.

[Ambernecter]

"Oh I love Bourbon too! Southern Comfort is one of my faves..."

Jees how many times I've heard that one!

[cowdery]

Southern Comfort is a perfectly good product, but Southern Comfort is to bourbon as Kenny G is to jazz.

[Gillman]

Based on my recent tastings of Southern Comfort, I'd rate it very high on the drinks scale. Of course, it is different than bourbon, a different product really.

But here is one example of why I think this: the other day at a LCBO tasting counter I paid $3.50 for one ounce of a luxury version of Grand Marnier. I forget the exact name, but it was the highest grade of the three Grand Marniers available today on the market, and was going for some $250. It is based on 15-25 year old cognacs and an orange distillate (by which I take it orange is not just added as such but instead, or in addition, a spirit distilled from an orange ferment of some kind is used).

The drink was of course very good: rich, sweet (not just sweetish), with a fine bitter orange taste and depth of complex flavor from the old brandies. Yet the first thing that came into my mind was Southern Comfort - and I hadn't been thinking of that drink at all. The fancy French drink reminded me very much of Comfort and since the latter cost 1/10th of what the Grand Marnier did, that's great value, since it is almost as good. In fact, if older bourbons were blended in, it might be equally good.

One day I'd like to serve these blind to a group and see what they think of both, I think many people would rate the Southern Comfort as in the same class or almost.

Gary

[jburlowski]

Based on my recent tastings of Southern Comfort, I'd rate it very high on the drinks scale. Of course, it is different than bourbon, a different product really.

But here is one example of why I think this: the other day at a LCBO tasting counter I paid $3.50 for one ounce of a luxury version of Grand Marnier. I forget the exact name, but it was the highest grade of the three Grand Marniers available today on the market, and was going for some $250. It is based on 15-25 year old cognacs and an orange distillate (by which I take it orange is not just added as such but instead, or in addition, a spirit distilled from an orange ferment of some kind is used).

The drink was of course very good: rich, sweet (not just sweetish), with a fine bitter orange taste and depth of complex flavor from the old brandies. Yet the first thing that came into my mind was Southern Comfort - and I hadn't been thinking of that drink at all. The fancy French drink reminded me very much of Comfort and since the latter cost 1/10th of what the Grand Marnier did, that's great value, since it is almost as good. In fact, if older bourbons were blended in, it might be equally good.

One day I'd like to serve these blind to a group and see what they think of both, I think many people would rate the Southern Comfort as in the same class or almost.

Gary

I agree. Particularly since both Southern Comfort and Grand Marnier are typically (or or at least often in the latter case) used as components in cocktails.

[TBoner]

I recently came across a 100-proof liquer called "Southern Star" which had an oddly-worded claim to the effect that it was created by the Sazerac company. I'm sorry I don't remember the wording better, but it was late in a cramped liquor store at the end of a long day of dusty-bottle hunting. At any rate, these were old (early-80s?) tax-stamped bottles, and they were sort-of inexpensive, but I wasn't devoting bourbon funds to them without knowing for sure.

A friend and I speculated it may have been a Southern Comfort knockoff, given the color, proof, name, and its proximity to bourbon on the shelf), but I thought I'd see if anyone had any other ideas or info.

Our only other idea (inspired by the Sazerac reference on the label) was that it was essentially a bottled Sazerac cocktail mix (this seems unlikely, but hey, who knows?).

Anyone have any thoughts?

[cowdery]

I'm not familiar with that particular one, but there have been literally dozens of Southern Comfort knock-offs over the years.