99 Liqueur Bananas

99 Liqueur Bananas is a banana-flavored liqueur, and that is the best guide to how to use it. Flavored liqueurs in this style usually taste of ripe banana, with candied or confectionery sweetness and little of the grain, oak and char you would look for in a bourbon, rye or Scotch. Treat the whiskey category tag as a shelf placement. Expect a sweet, fruit-forward profile, not a barrel-aged one. No proof, base spirit or origin is given for this bottle, so check the label for ABV before you plan a recipe around it. Because liqueurs in this style are sweet, they usually work best as a modifier, not a sipping spirit. A small pour served chilled or over ice is the simplest way to taste it. A splash of cold water or soda softens the sugar and lets the banana come forward. A rocks glass suits that kind of pour, and a Glencairn is unnecessary for a spirit with little oak or smoke to nose. In cocktails, it pairs naturally with whiskey, but as an accent. Try a bar spoon or a quarter ounce in an Old Fashioned. It will round off the sweetness, so you can cut the sugar or syrup. In a Whiskey Sour, a small measure beside the lemon juice adds a ripe-fruit note. It also works in a tall highball with ginger ale or soda, or in a banana daiquiri-style drink with rum and lime. Food-wise, banana liqueurs usually suit desserts: drizzled over vanilla ice cream, folded into a bananas foster sauce, or added to a milkshake.