Nonino Amaro

Balanced bitterness with citrus, spice, smooth texture. From one of Italy's most respected grappa families (since 1897).

The Nonino family have distilled at Percoto in Friuli since 1897. The amaro began in 1933, when Antonio Nonino infused wild herbs from the Carnia mountains and called it Amaro Carnia. Silvia Nonino, the family's first woman master distiller, widened the recipe in the 1940s with botanicals from further afield.

The version in this bottle dates from 1992. Cristina, Antonella and Elisabetta Nonino swapped the grappa base for ÙE, the grape distillate their parents created in 1984. That spirit runs off copper steam stills and rests at least twelve months in barriques before it meets the herbs. Thyme, quinine bark, gentian root and wormwood carry the bitterness. It is 35 percent.

Nose it for orange zest, bitter orange marmalade and a cool thread of menthol. Pour it neat at room temperature after dinner, or over ice with a slice of orange. It is also the backbone of a Paper Plane.