Six & Twenty Carolina Cream

Six & Twenty Carolina Cream is a craft cream liqueur made in Powdersville, South Carolina, by distiller Dave Quinn, who originally created it as a challenge from his mother-in-law asking for Irish cream. Instead of replicating an import, Quinn built the liqueur on a foundation of Six & Twenty's house 5-grain bourbon, blending it with natural cream, rum, and a proprietary spice blend, resulting in a spirit that has become the distillery's bestseller and a local alternative to mass-market cream liqueurs. Six & Twenty operates in the Upstate South Carolina corridor, sourcing grains locally for its bourbon program before bringing them into the cream liqueur production. The base 5-grain bourbon gives the Carolina Cream a richer, more complex backbone than neutral-spirit cream liqueurs—the bourbon contributes caramel, vanilla, and a slight grain character that carries through the dairy. The addition of rum adds roundness and a subtle molasses note, while the spice blend remains undisclosed but balances the sweetness and keeps the profile from tilting cloying. The distillery produces the cream liqueur in small batches, prioritizing fresh dairy and natural ingredients over shelf-stable shortcuts. The Carolina Cream drinks like a dessert in a glass—thick, creamy, lightly spiced, with bourbon warmth cutting through the richness. It works over ice as an after-dinner sipper, in coffee as a less-sweet alternative to flavored creamers, or drizzled over vanilla ice cream. The bourbon backbone makes it suitable for fall and winter occasions when heavier, warming flavors are welcome. It also holds up in cocktails that call for Irish cream, bringing a slightly drier, grain-forward profile to White Russians or Mudslides. Available for pickup at our Lincoln Park bottle shop at 1128 W Armitage Ave, local Chicago delivery, or nationwide shipping.