🥃 Amaretto

If you have wondered whether amaretto is really made from almonds, the short answer is: not necessarily. Amaretto is a liqueur whose main flavour is almond. EU rules give it no separate definition: it falls under the general category 33 "liqueur" of Regulation (EU) 2019/787, so it has at least 15% vol. and 100 g/l of sugar expressed as invert sugar. The legal name of such a drink in the EU is "liqueur"; the word "amaretto" only describes the flavour. In the US, the standard 27 CFR § 5.150 expressly names amaretto as an almond-flavoured liqueur.

Under EU rules a liqueur is ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, a distillate or another spirit drink, sweetened and flavoured with plant products, foodstuffs or flavourings. A lower sugar threshold applies only to cherry liqueurs made with cherry spirit (70 g/l) and to liqueurs flavoured with gentian or wormwood (80 g/l). The law requires natural flavourings only for liqueurs of pineapple, citrus, sea buckthorn, mulberry, sour cherry and cherry, blackcurrant, raspberry, cloudberry, arctic bramble, cranberry, bilberry and cowberry, and for génépi, gentian, mint and aniseed liqueurs. Almonds are not on this list, so almond liqueurs may use other flavouring substances, and the composition of amaretto can differ noticeably between producers.

The almond aroma is linked to stone-fruit kernels. In 2016 the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) pointed out that apricot kernels contain amygdalin, which the body converts into cyanide. It set an acute reference dose of 20 µg of cyanide per kilogram of body weight: an adult stays within it by eating about three small kernels, a toddler by eating half of one.

That is why the EU flavourings rules (Regulation 1334/2008) forbid adding hydrocyanic acid to food as such and limit its natural presence from flavourings or plant ingredients: up to 35 mg/kg in alcoholic beverages, 50 mg/kg in marzipan and nougat, and 5 mg/kg in canned stone fruit. The same regulation allows "natural almond flavouring" only if at least 95% of the flavouring component comes from almonds.

In the EU, drinks above 1.2% vol. need not list ingredients, but allergens are compulsory. Almonds are among the 14 allergen groups (Regulation 1169/2011, Annex II), and if they are in a liqueur they must be declared on the label. The exception is nuts used only to make an alcoholic distillate.

In the US, a liqueur must contain at least 2.5% sugar by weight of the finished product, and the word "dry" in quotation marks may be used if sugar is below 10%. The EU register of geographical indications for spirit drinks has no entry for "amaretto". The name therefore describes a flavour, not a place or a method of production.

Why it matters to you. The name "amaretto" does not guarantee real almonds in the bottle: the flavour may come from flavourings, and "natural almond" means at least 95% of the flavour from almonds. If almonds or other nuts are used, the label must show the allergen. Do not try to make home liqueur from raw apricot kernels. The strength of the liqueur is from 15% vol. WHO: there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.