cream liqueurs (not to be confused with dairy-free crème liqueurs) are quite a recent invention, only dating back to the 1970s. The union of cream and spirits became popular during Prohibition, when the poor quality of the available booze led to the development of drinks like the Alexander, a gin- and cream-based concoction that evolved into the Brandy Alexander, which is still relatively popular today, and the Cowboy cocktail, raw whisky shaken with cream, which is not. See Alexander Cocktail.
Bottling dairy-based liqueurs, however, posed a problem: how to create a stable product that wouldn’t curdle or separate in the bottle.
It wasn’t until 1974 that Gilbey’s of Ireland, a division of International Distillers and Vintners (IDV) figured it out, and Baileys Irish Cream—the first cream liqueur—was born (it was based on a prototype created by David Gluckman and Hugh Reade Seymour-Davies, a pair of London marketing men, who shook together a mixture of Irish whisky, heavy cream and Cadbury’s Powdered Drinking Chocolate and thought it had potential). A mix of chocolate, dairy cream, Irish whisky, and other ingredients, Baileys could remain stable for months or even years without refrigeration. It was launched in Britain in 1975 and the United States in 1977; success was not immediate, but by 1983 over a million cases were sold worldwide.
Cream liqueurs are generally intended as an after-dinner drink, whether served chilled, poured into coffee, or even on top of ice cream.
Blue, Anthony Dias. The Complete Book of Spirits. New York: Harper Collins, 2004.
Gluckman, David. “In 1973, I Invented a ‘Girly Drink’ Called Baileys.” Irish Times, October 2, 2016.
Grimes, William. Straight Up or on the Rocks. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993.
“The Top 10 Best-Selling Liqueur Brands.” The Spirits Business, July 8, 2015. https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2015/07/top-10-best-selling-liqueur-brands/ (accessed April 20 2021).
By: Tony Sachs