Southern Comfort (often abbreviated SoCo) is an American, naturally fruit-flavored,

whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden c ...

liqueur A liqueur (; ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-aged bey ...

with fruit and spice accents. The brand was created by bartender

Martin Wilkes Heron Martin Wilkes Heron (July 4, 1850 – April 17, 1920) was an Irish American bartender, saloon-keeper, and liquor manufacturer best known for creating the liqueur known as Southern Comfort. He is often credited as being the "original mixologist" l ...

in New Orleans in 1874, using whiskey as the base spirit. Whiskey was replaced by a neutral spirit under the ownership of

Brown–Forman The Brown–Forman Corporation is an American company, one of the largest in the spirits and wine business. Based in Louisville, Kentucky, it manufactures several well known brands throughout the world, including Jack Daniel's, Old Forester, ...

. On March 1, 2016, the

(1850–1920), the son of a boat-builder, in 1874 at McCauley's Tavern in the Lower Garden District, south of the

French Quarter The French Quarter, also known as the , is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans (french: La Nouvelle-Orléans) was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old S ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Heron moved to

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 Uni ...

in 1889, patented his 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 The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds totaling $15 milli ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, whic ...

. In an episode of ''

The Thirsty Traveler ''The Thirsty Traveler'', executive produced by Bryan Smith, is a weekly journey into the heart of the world's greatest wine, beer, and spirit producing regions. Each episode explores the land, people, production, companies, customs, traditions, ...

'' entitled "A River of Whiskey", spirits historian Chris Morris describes the original recipe of Southern Comfort. Heron began with good-quality bourbon 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 his sweetener: he liked to use honey.

The original brand closed during

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

and was reopened afterward by Francis Fowler. Between the 1930s and 2010, the image on the label of Southern Comfort was ''

A Home on the Mississippi ''A Home on the Mississippi'' is an 1871 rendering commissioned by the United States government as part of a documentary program on the Mississippi River. The scene is an original work by Alfred Waud depicting Woodland Plantation, an antebellum m ...

'', a rendering by

Alfred Waud Alfred Rudolph Waud ( ; October 2, 1828 – April 6, 1891) was an American artist and illustrator, born in London, England. He is most notable for the sketches he made as an artist correspondent during the American Civil War. Early life Waud wa ...

depicting Woodland Plantation, an

antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum arc ...

mansion in

West Pointe à la Hache, Louisiana West Pointe à la Hache is an unincorporated community in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States. The community is on the southwest bank of the Mississippi River with Pointe à la Hache directly across the river to the northeast. It is on Lo ...

, which is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

, and now provides

bed-and-breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

accommodation. In 2010 the plantation artwork was dropped from the label.

purchased the brand in 1979. In 2011, the brand began releasing flavored variations like cherry, lime, gingerbread, and Tabasco. In January 2016 Brown–Forman sold it to

Sazerac Company Sazerac Company, Inc is a privately held American alcoholic beverage company headquartered in Metairie in the metropolitan area of New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,Tuaca Tuaca () is an Italian naturally flavored brandy liqueur. Tuaca is a sweet golden brown blend of brandy, citrus essences, vanilla, and other secret spices. It is bottled at 35% ABV (70 proof). Tuaca's mild, sweet flavor makes it popular as a ...

, as part of a $543.5 million deal. Since March 1, 2016, the brand has been owned by Sazerac. Sazerac announced that Southern Comfort's formula would be changed in 2017 to restore whiskey spirit as the base spirit, as the original formula used. Sometime before Brown–Forman purchased the brand, it had been reformulated to use

neutral spirit Rectified spirit, also known as neutral spirits, rectified alcohol or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, is highly concentrated ethanol that has been purified by means of repeated distillation in a process called rectification. In some countri ...

, with only a negligible amount of whiskey as a flavorant. To take advantage of the rising popularity of bourbon, Southern Comfort Black was introduced in early 2018 (with a slogan of "Smoky Spiced Smooth"), along with a ready-to-drink (RTD) product of "Comfort and Cola" (4-pack of 375 mL cans, 6% alcohol).

Varieties

In the United States, Southern Comfort is available as 42 US proof (21% ABV), 70 US

proof Proof most often refers to: * Proof (truth), argument or sufficient evidence for the truth of a proposition * Alcohol proof, a measure of an alcoholic drink's strength Proof may also refer to: Mathematics and formal logic * Formal proof, a con ...

(35%

ABV Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

), 100 US proof (50% ABV), and in Australia it is 60 US

(30%

). Varieties including additional flavorings, such as lime and caramel, were introduced by Brown–Forman in the latter years of their ownership, but were discontinued by Sazerac.

Eggnog products

Also seasonally available through various retailers is Southern Comfort-branded

eggnog Eggnog (), historically also known as a milk punch or an egg milk punch when alcoholic beverages are added, is a rich, chilled, sweetened, dairy-based beverage. It is traditionally made with milk, cream, sugar, egg yolks, and whipped egg white ...

. These currently include two variations of eggnog flavors, Traditional and Vanilla Spice. The Traditional flavor is usually available in and sizes. These eggnog products contain no alcohol. Previously, there were also ground coffees available with both of these eggnog flavorings, but the coffee products have since been discontinued.

In cocktails

Southern Comfort is used in the creation of numerous

cocktail A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink. Most commonly, cocktails are either a combination of spirits, or one or more spirits mixed with other ingredients such as tonic water, fruit juice, flavored syrup, or cream. Cocktails vary widely acr ...

s, including the Alabama Slammer.

ALABAMA SLAMMER 1 oz. Southern Comfort, ½ oz. sloe gin, 1 oz. amaretto, ½ oz. orange juice. Pour into highball glass over rocks. Stir.

One of the earliest Southern Comfort-based cocktails to be marketed was the Scarlett O'Hara, named after the character and concocted in tribute to the release of the film adaptation of ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind may also refer to: Music * ''Gone with the Wind'' ...

'' in 1939. The mixture includes Southern Comfort, cranberry juice, and fresh lime.

References

External links

* {{Alcoholic beverages American liqueurs Sazerac Company brands Irish-American history 1874 introductions