Substitutes for Alchermes: If color does not matter to you, I rather like amaretto mixed with a bit of rum. Rum alone would also do well. La cucina italiana website calls for vin santo, a typical Tuscan sweet fortified wine. I imagine sweet Marsala, while not typical, would also be nice. Mario Batali recommends sassolino or mandorla amara liqueurs, while Marcella Hazan recommends a mixture of rum, cognac, Drambuie and Cherry Herring. Kyle Philips of About Italian Food recommends any aromatic liqueur such as Strega or amaretto. And for the ambitious, in his classic The Fine Art of Italian Cooking, Giuliano Bugialli provides a recipe to make your own Alchermes.