Does higher alcohol content improve flavor extraction in liqueurs?

Expanded Explanation

Higher alcohol content can improve extraction, but only up to a point. Stronger alcohol pulls essential oils, aromatic compounds, and some bitter elements faster than standard spirits, which can be useful for tough peels, hard spices, roots, and dense botanicals. That speed, however, also increases the risk of harshness.

When proof is too high, the liqueur can become overly bitter, hot, or woody, especially if you leave ingredients in too long. Citrus peel can turn pithy, spices can dominate, and delicate fruit can lose freshness. A stronger spirit is therefore not automatically better, because extraction quality matters more than extraction speed.

In home liqueur making, controlled extraction almost always beats aggressive extraction. A moderate spirit with careful tasting and staged removal of ingredients usually gives a cleaner, more balanced result than simply starting with the strongest alcohol available.