33. Liqueur

Liqueur is a spirit drink: having a minimum content of sweetening products, expressed as invert sugar, of: 70 grams per litre for cherry or sour cherry liqueurs, the ethyl alcohol of which consists exclusively of cherry or sour cherry spirit, 80 grams per litre for liqueurs which are flavoured exclusively with gentian or a similar plant or wormwood, 100 grams per litre in all other cases; produced using ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin or a distillate of agricultural origin or one or more spirit drinks or a combination thereof, which has been sweetened and to which one or more flavourings, products of agricultural origin or foodstuffs have been added. The minimum alcoholic strength by volume of liqueur shall be 15 %. Flavouring substances and flavouring preparations may be used in the production of liqueur. However, the following liqueurs may only be flavoured with flavouring foodstuffs, flavouring preparations and natural flavouring substances: fruit liqueurs: pineapple (Ananas), citrus fruit (Citrus L.), sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.), mulberry (Morus alba, Morus rubra), sour cherry (Prunus cerasus), cherry (Prunus avium), blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum L.), arctic bramble (Rubus arcticus L.), cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus L.), raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.), wild cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos L.), bilberry/blueberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.), cowberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.); plant liqueurs: génépi (Artemisia genepi), gentian (Gentiana L.), mint (Mentha L.), aniseed (Pimpinella anisum L.), The legal name may be ‘liqueur’ in any Member State and: for liqueurs produced by maceration of sour cherries or cherries (Prunus cerasus or Prunus avium) in ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, the legal name may be ‘guignolet’ or ‘češnjevec’, with or without the term ‘liqueur’; for liqueurs produced by maceration of sour cherries (Prunus cerasus) in ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, the legal name may be ‘ginja’ or ‘ginjinha’ or ‘višnjevec’, with or without the term ‘liqueur’; for liqueurs for which the alcohol content is provided exclusively by rum, the legal name may be ‘punch au rhum’, with or without the term ‘liqueur’; without prejudice to point (2) of Article 3, point (b) of Article 10(5) and Article 11, for liqueurs containing milk or milk products, the legal name may be ‘cream’ supplemented by the name of the raw material used conferring on the liqueur its predominant flavour, with or without the term ‘liqueur’. The following compound terms may be used in the description, presentation and labelling of liqueurs produced in the Union, where ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin or distillate of agricultural origin is used to mirror established production methods: prune brandy; orange brandy; apricot brandy; cherry brandy; solbaerrom or blackcurrant rum. As regards the description, presentation and labelling of the liqueurs referred to in this point, the compound term shall appear in one line in uniform characters of the same font and colour and the word ‘liqueur’ shall appear in immediate proximity in characters no smaller than that font. If the alcohol does not come from the spirit drink indicated, its origin shall be shown on the label in the same visual field as the compound term and the word ‘liqueur’ either by stating the type of agricultural alcohol or by the words ‘agricultural alcohol’ preceded on each occasion by ‘made from’ or ‘made using’. Without prejudice to Articles 11 and 12 and Article 13(4), the legal name ‘liqueur’ may be supplemented by the name of a flavouring or foodstuff that confers the predominant flavour of the spirit drink, provided that the flavour is conferred on the spirit drink by flavouring foodstuffs, flavouring preparations and natural flavouring substances, derived from the raw material referred to in the name of the flavouring or of the foodstuff, supplemented by flavouring substances only where necessary to reinforce the flavour of that raw material.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-08 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.