Vishnovka (Sour Cherry Liqueur)
Bulgaria · Liqueurs
Bulgaria’s classic homemade sour cherry liqueur, and the all-time favourite of the country’s home-liqueur tradition — sour cherries macerated with sugar in rakia, traditionally in a 1:1:1 ratio of cherries, sugar and rakia, left in direct sunlight for 40 days or more and shaken occasionally until the sugar fully dissolves and the colour darkens. The same base method (rakia infused after distillation) is also used with herbs, honey or walnuts, but sour cherry is the classic version, historically seen as a lighter, sweeter drink for gatherings, not a popular standalone rakia in its own right. Part of the same wider Balkan family as Serbian and Croatian višnjevača.