Grand Collection Amaretto is a product of the Belgian Sodiko, which the company no longer manufactures, but nowadays under the name of Amaretto Venice. Sodiko is a company founded in 1991 that smelled of money when the Soviet Union collapsed and the whole of Eastern Europe opened its markets to Western products. Sodiko’s sales strategy is to produce various alcohols in large volumes and dump them in supermarkets at very low prices. The company does not waste any effort or capital for any kind of marketing. According to the back label of the bottle, the liqueur is made from alcohol, water, sugar, flavorings and colored with caramel (E150a). The 70 cl bottle cost 4.99€, making it the cheapest amaretto liqueur on the Baltic markets.

The smell has a light and traditional bitter almond aroma. There is something a little disgusting and artificial in the background. The taste is smooth but watery, slightly almondy. In the short aftertaste becomes a bit acrid bitterness. Amaretto is usually a fairly strong liqueur, between 23-28%, so the 18% used by Sodiko has been taken only to get the cheapest possible selling price. The taste is somewhat desolate. Yes, the product still feels like an amaretto, but the artificial aroma of bitter almonds and the watery appearance are well in line with the very cheap price. After one glass, I want to rinse off the industrial essence shades quickly with water or something stronger. The bottle has labels in lithuanian language, so it is just a strike from Belgium to such cheap money from the so-called poor Eastern European country.

67/100