Distilleria Quaglia Berto Bitter
Distilleria Quaglia Berto Bitter
FROM KERMIT LYNCH:
THE LIQUOR: Made from a blend of gentian, sweet orange, rhubarb, wormwood, rose petal, and grapefruit. Infusion with all ingredients lasts at least 3 weeks, then aging lasts 3 more weeks minimum, all in stainless steel tanks. Residual sugar 250 g/L, 25% ABV.
THE PRODUCER: Situated in Castelnuovo Don Bosco in Piedmont, the Distilleria Quaglia was purchased in 1906 by the great-grandfather of the current distillery director, Carlo Quaglia. A succession of ancestors passing historical and traditional knowledge of distillation, liqueur, and vermouth production from one generation to the next brings us to present day. Our fortunate introduction to Carlo and his masterful artisanship came from brothers Alessandro and Gian Natale Fantino, to whom they entrust the production of their Barolo Chinato with staggering results. We currently import their traditional Piemontese products under the Distilleria Quaglia and Bèrto names.
The ambition of Distilleria Quaglia is to preserve a multitude of traditional liqueurs and vermouths from Piedmont. We first began importing the Bèrto line with their two sweet vermouths, the red (Ross da Travaj) and white (Aperitiv dla Traddission), which are standard-bearers of traditional vermouth di Torino and express typical Italian craftsmanship. To make their sweet vermouths, Carlo infuses a variety of local, home-grown, and carefully sourced herbs and spices for two months until gently pressing them off so not to extract vegetal qualities that could upset their subtle aromas. The resulting infusion, along with sugar and alcohol, is added to a base of dry Italian wines and ages for a minimum of one month before bottling. The vision speaks for itself, resulting in Piemontese vermouths that can be enjoyed on their own, perhaps in a tumbler with ice and a simple curl of orange peel.
Since this time, we have expanded our imports of their products and now work with a fragrant dry vermouth, three liqueurs (Aperitivo, Bitter, Fernet), and our first spirit import, an aromatic dry Gin as well as a series of specialty liqueurs from Distilleria Quaglia. Among the myriad cocktails that can be mixed with these ingredients, perhaps the one we were most excited about was their Negroni—so much so we introduced a pre-batched bottling to the collection.