Tasting Notes for Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur:
Aroma: Kirsch eau-de-vie like with strong alcohol spirit (surprisingly given its abv) with roasted nuttiness and faint smoke.
Taste: Silky sweet cherry with dark chocolate, vanilla and a touch of orange marmalade.
Finish: White chocolate and cherry finish.
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Luxardo Maraschino Originale is still produced according to a special formula created by Girolamo Luxardo in 1821.
When Luxardo marasca cherries are harvested at the beginning of every summer, they are put in alcoholic infusion in larch-wood vats together with some leaves and branches of the same trees for up to three years. When ready, both the liquid and the solid parts are distilled in traditional copper pot stills, separating the heart from heads and tails. Only the heart of the distillate is then allowed to mature in ash-wood vats for 2 years. The last process consists in transforming the distillate in liqueur by adding a simple syrup of water and sugar lowering the ABV to 32%.
The tall green bottle with its red cap is still hand-plaited in straw within the company, and resembles the Maraschino bottles produced in Zara in the early days, where the straw was placed in order to prevent damage during transportation. Luxardo Maraschino Originale can be enjoyed in many classic cocktails such as Martinez, Hemingway Daiquiri and Aviation, or neat as an after dinner drink. It is also ideal over fruits such as strawberries, pineapples, oranges etc. or as a flavor in confectionary and ice creams.
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The firm was founded in 1821 by Girolamo Luxardo in the city of Zara, which is now known as Zadar. Luxardo had moved to Zara with his family in 1817, as the consular representative of the Kingdom of Sardinia. His wife (Maria Canevari) produced liqueurs at home, specializing in "rosolio maraschino", a liquor from Dalmatia, and Luxardo founded the distillery to produce Liquore Maraschino. Within eight years of existence, the Luxardo Maraschino was recognized a superior product by the Emperor. Girolamo Luxardo died in 1865 at age 81, and his son Nicolò took over the business.
In 1913 a new distillery was built by Michaelangelo Luxardo, who was of the third generation of Luxardos. The distillery was one of the largest in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (maybe the largest distillery in Europe at one time).
Zara was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy at the end of World War I. The distillery was almost completely destroyed by Allied bombings during the Second World War. In 1944, at the end of German occupation, the city was seized by Josip Broz Tito's troops, then ceded to Yugoslavia at the end of the war. Almost all the Italian citizens, and among them most of the Luxardo family were forced to flee (exodus from Istria and Dalmatia), and some of them were murdered, like Nicolò Luxardo, his wife Bianca Ronzoni and his younger brother Pietro. The business was temporarily refounded in Venice by Giorgio Luxardo, who allegedly fled with a sapling of marasca cherry tree and his family's recipe, before Giorgio moved to Torreglia, near Padova, in the Veneto region of Italy, where he built a new distillery and continued the family's and firm's activities. The sixth generation of the family is still active in the operations of the company, including: Piero Luxardo, Franco Luxardo, Guido Luxardo, Matteo Luxardo, Filippo Luxardo and Giorgio Luxardo.
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Volume 70cl ABV 32%