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Tiki Central / Tiki Drinks and Food / I need a NAVAN vanilla liqueur substitute

Post #783471 by AceExplorer on Sun, Jan 28, 2018 2:34 PM

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I have been chasing a sub for Navan for a few years now. I have seen for sale, but have not bought, some of the remaining stock. Some bought bottles cheap when they halted production, and they are now selling for upwards of $100/bottle. You may have read a few of my posts on non-tiki web sites where I and others have discussed what to substitute with in place of Navan.

Ultimately the solution depends entirely on how EXACT you want to duplicate the Navan either straight or in a cocktail. If this is a requirement for you, then your best bet may be to experiment with one of the several home-made recipes or blends that others have posted. If this is not a requirement, then it may truly be as simple as mixing McGillicuddy's with a French brandy or French cognac. On the other hand, you may be quite happy with McGillicuddy's or Meukow. (Meukow is pronounced "moo-koff") I do not think Licor 43 is a deep and true "vanilla liqueur," as it has many other flavoring ingredients but I read that the vanilla is very forward. Without knowing what the Navan tastes like, how could we be certain what to substitute? I have gone down this road and found myself at the mercy of others' descriptions of Navan's taste from their memories, or from their reports of tasting from the limited remaining stock.

My final approach and decision was based on these thoughts:

  1. I would use the McGillicuddy's and try other vanilla liqueurs if they were easy to come by. (Meukow is very easily obtainable at Total Wine for me, but I have not yet bought a bottle. I'm not sure about the Monin brand, and as I said earlier, I think I would avoid the Licor 43.) However there is quite a bit of debate about the flavor and suitability of McGillicuddy's Schnapps versus Meukow Cognac. The posts didn't settle it one way or the other for me. And I'm not aware of how favorably the Monin or Licor vanilla products rate.

  2. There are SO many other cocktails out there which I can faithfully re-create (and want to play with) that I stopped being hung up on finding a Navan sub. It's gone, possibly forever, and I decided to just move on. A bottle of McGillicuddy's is in my liquor inventory, and I use it, and I leave it at that. There are just too many other things out there which are also of interest to me. I am at peace, lol...

I hope this rambling post is helpful to you. Let us know what you decide to do, especially if you go and make one of the blends as a sub for Navan.

My bar top has a nice Navan drink mat - a very lucky acquisition a few years back. As a result I think of the Navan dilemma surprisingly frequently.