Beyond Baileys: 10 Cream Liqueurs That Don't Suck

There's a world of cream liqueurs beyond the staple of Baileys and the realm of Irish creams as a whole. That's meant quite literally, as cream liqueurs hail from different countries and regions spanning the globe, inspired by indigenous spirits, fruits and ingredients.

Any distilled spirit could theoretically be mixed with cream to create a cream liqueur—not that one would expect to find a "gin cream liqueur" on the shelf anytime soon—but hey, you never know. Still, that leaves a huge range of potential options and flavors, and in the past few years, the spirits industry has seen a surge in popularity and experimentation of boozy cream, yielding many new bottles.

Here's a look at 10 lesser known cream liqueurs to consider, be it for boozy coffee, an after dinner dessert cocktail, a frozen concoction, or simply poured over rocks.

10 Cream Liqueurs to Try

Photo courtesy of Guappa.

1) Amarula ($18)
Hailing from South Africa, outside of Phalaborwa, Amarula Fruit Cream is made from the marula fruit, found only in the sub-Saharan African plains. The fruit is fermented, and then double-distilled and aged in oak barrels for 24 months. It's then mixed with fresh cream and bottled at 17 percent ABV. Perhaps the most widely known cream liqueur on this list, Amarula offers a nutty profile, with floral and fruit notes.

2) Arran Gold ($22)
Arran Gold is a 17 percent ABV malt cream liqueur made with Arran Distillers' single malt Scotch whisky. Arran is the only distillery on the Isle of Arran, and it certainly has its devotees. Fans of Arran scotch will therefore particularly appreciate this whiskey-forward cream liqueur, which isn't overpowered by sugar.

3) Guappa ($31)
Guappa is an Italian cream liqueur made by Antica Distilleria Petrone in Mondragone, Italy that's notable for being made not with cow's milk cream, but rather with D.O.P. buffalo milk cream from the Campania region. It's named in homage of a particular buffalo, nicknamed "Guappa," or beautiful. The buffalo milk cream is mixed with aged brandy and is bottled at 17 percent ABV. The liqueur offers a unique buffalo milk creaminess, similar to the flavor of Buffalo milk mozzarella.

Photo courtesy of Magnum Cream Liqueur.

4) Magnum Cream Liqueur ($30)
Magnum is created with a mix of Scotch whisky, specifically, vatted Scotch sourced from the Highlands region, plus Dutch cream. This liqueur, which won a gold medal for cream liqueurs at San Francisco World Spirits Competition last year, offers a distinctly different flavor to a traditional Irish whiskey cream liqueur, even providing a slight spark of spice on the palate. Magnum is bottled at 17 percent ABV and sold in a quick-chill steel canister.

5) Mozart Rose Gold Chocolate Cream ($37)
Mozart Chocolate Liqueur in Salzburg, Austria produces several varieties of chocolate cream liqueurs, the standout of which is the 17 percent ABV Mozart Rose Gold Chocolate Cream, or Mozart R.G. It's made with alcohol from distilled sugar beets, Belgian chocolate, Ghanaian cocoa, Madagascar vanilla, fresh cream and cocoa butter. The cocoa macerate is stored for at least six months in ex-bourbon barrels.

6) RumChata ($16)
RumChata falls into the family of rum creams, of which there are many. This cream liqueur incorporates sourced Caribbean rum and Wisconsin dairy cream, flavored with cinnamon, vanilla, sugar and an unspecified assortment of additional flavors. RumChata may be best known as a common dancing partner with Fireball, mixed together in "Cinnamon Toast Crunch" shots, and is at the lighter end in terms of proofing, at just 13.5 percent ABV.

Photo courtesy of Whisper Creek.

7) Serengeti Strawberry Velvet Cream
Serengeti Strawberry Velvet Cream is produced by Safari Liquors, based in Hermon, South Africa. Strawberry Velvet is made with strawberries and fresh cream, coming in at 17 percent ABV. The cream is sourced from Jersey cattle herds, known for producing milk with high butterfat levels. Safari also makes their own Marula Fruit cream liqueur.

8) SomruS ($28)
Translating to "Nectar of Gods" in Hindi, SomruS is actually itself a rum cream, but stands apart as likely the most uniquely flavored of the cream liqueurs on this list. It's made with a sourced Caribbean rum and Wisconsin dairy cream, but then takes a distinct turn to India, incorporating a blend of eastern spices including saffron, rose and cardamom, along with almonds and pistachios. Sold in an elaborate golden-scaled bottle, it's a milky-white in the glass, and comes in at 13.5 percent ABV. Last year SomruS took home Cream Liqueur of the Year honors at the New York International Spirits awards.

9) Stroh Cream ($33)
Stroh Cream Liqueur hails from Klagenfurt, Austria, and is made from the company's Stroh Original rum—a spiced rum used prominently in hot drinks, as well as cocktails. Here, it's mixed with cream and smoothed out into a 15 percent ABV cream liqueur with a mellow sweetness, along with a bit of a spicy and aromatic profile.

10) Whisper Creek Tennessee Sipping Cream ($20)
Whisper Creek Tennessee Sipping Cream incorporates aged Tennessee whiskey, distilled at Speakeasy Spirits in Nashville, Tennessee, with fresh cream and over 30 different natural flavors, ranging from fig to pecan, and caramel to red apple. At 20 percent ABV, it's one of the higher-proof cream liqueurs on the market which, along with its Tennessee whiskey roots, provides a distinctive caramel and molasses profile.