🥃 Galliano

Galliano is an Italian herbal-vanilla liqueur with anise, created in 1896 by the distiller Arturo Vaccari of Livorno. Besides anise and vanilla, it contains more than 25 plants and spices, and the original L'Autentico version is 42.3% ABV. Since 2006 the brand has belonged to the Dutch company Lucas Bols.

The liqueur was named after the Italian officer Giuseppe Galliano, who died in 1896. Difford's Guide calls the legend that the officer carried the recipe himself a myth. The ingredients include star anise, anise, juniper, yarrow, lavender, mint, cinnamon and vanilla. The yellow colour comes from caramel and tartrazine.

According to Difford's Guide, the plants are macerated for 24–48 hours in a water-spirit solution of about 60% and then distilled in small copper stills. The finished liqueur is blended from nine components. According to the same source, production is located in Chieri near Turin (the company Maraschi & Quirici); this is the testimony of a single source.

The strength has changed over time. L'Autentico was originally 42.3% ABV; in the 1970s it was lowered to 35%, in the 1990s to 30%, and later restored. The bottle resembles a Roman column, and the liqueur is a component of the Harvey Wallbanger cocktail. The sources differ slightly on ownership: Difford's and other sources write of Lucas Bols from 2006, while the Oxford Companion says the liqueur was then with Rémy Cointreau.

Why this matters to you. Galliano is a liqueur, not an anise spirit or a bitter: it is sweet, strong and coloured. Check the label: old bottles could be 30 or 35%, new ones 42.3%. The colour is no sign of "naturalness", since it comes from additives. The WHO reminds us that no level of alcohol consumption is safe.