Cherry Infused Bourbon

This cherry infused bourbon recipe is fun for a couple of reasons: cherries and bourbon. They complement each other most tastefully and infusing is easier than you might think.

Cherries and bourbon go very well together. My favorite cocktail at the moment is the bourbon Manhattan. I find that cherry mellows bourbon and gives it a lovely flavor.

I’ve since made a cherry Manhattan that I think you will enjoy.

So you see, cherries and bourbon are a match made in heaven. But the cherry season is short, so start early and stockpile cherries in the freezer if you need to.

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Helpful tips

• Wash the jar with hot soapy water before using it, but you don’t have to sterilize it.
• Wash the cherries by adding unscented hand soap to your hands and rubbing them over the cherries a handful at a time. Then place them in a sieve and running cold water over the cherries.
• You can make as much cherry bourbon as you like, rule of thumb is fill whatever size jar you want halfway with the sliced cherries, and fill the rest of the jar with bourbon.
• Use the best bourbon you can afford as I do think you can taste the difference.
• After five days of infusing the liquor, when you separate the cherries from the bourbon, do not eat them. Rather, if you want to eat bourbon-flavored cherries, make my bourbon soaked cherries recipe. (Cherries in this recipe are sliced; bourbon-soaked cherries are kept whole, which retains their flavor.)
• You can store the final infusion on the shelf with the rest of your spirits; it doesn’t need refrigeration.

How to make infused bourbon

Step one

Gather the ingredients – cherries, bourbon and a jar.

Step two

Wash, pit and slice the cherries in half and place them in the jar. You should end up with around 2.5 cups of cherries, after they’re sliced.

Step three

Pouring bourbon over the cherries, fill your jar to the top.

Step four

Cap and let sit on the counter for 5 days. Gently shake the jar every day.

Notice how dark it looks. The bourbon leeched all the flavor and much of the color out of the sliced cherries.

Step five

Place a sieve in or over a big bowl. Carefully pour the contents of the jar through the sieve.

As you can see, the cherries have lost their color, and I suggest that you don’t eat them. Trust me, they don’t taste like cherries anymore.

Here is the cherry infused bourbon in the jar, ready to be mixed into a cocktail.

It would also be great in my bourbon meatballs appetizer recipe. or as I stated above, the cherry Manhattan.

I remade this infused bourbon in a bigger jar. This one is 64 ounces but as you can see, I didn’t fill it all the way.

Here it is bottled!

I hope you enjoyed this cherry infused bourbon recipe.

And as always, may all your dishes/drinks be delish.

Other popular infusions

• Cherry vodka
• Watermelon vodka
• Jalapeño tequila
• Cranberry vodka

If you’ve tried this recipe, I’d love the know what you thought about it in the comments below. I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more of my delicious food and delightful cocktails!