🥃 Luxardo

Luxardo is an Italian family house of liqueurs and spirits, best known for maraschino. Girolamo Luxardo founded it in 1821 in the town of Zara, now Zadar in Croatia; after the Second World War production moved to Torreglia near Padua. The company is still controlled by the founding family.

History. According to Difford’s Guide, Girolamo arrived in Zara in 1817 as consular representative of the Kingdom of Sardinia, and in 1821 opened a distillery to make maraschino on a commercial scale, using a recipe his wife Maria Canevari had prepared at home. The emblem became a carrier pigeon. The bombing of 1943–1944 nearly destroyed the town and the distillery; the family rebuilt the business first in Venice, then in Torreglia, and in 1947 planted the first orchard in the Euganean Hills.

How it is made. According to the producer, the spirit is distilled in copper pot stills. The main raw material of maraschino is the bitter marasca cherry, which until the 20th century grew only in Dalmatia; today about 20,000 trees grow in orchards near Padua. According to Difford’s Guide, maraschino is aged for two years in vats of white Finnish ash and bottled in straw-covered flasks.

Range. Besides the classic maraschino there is Perla Dry, a jubilee edition for the 200th anniversary in a limited run of 4,999 numbered bottles, and Aperitivo, a low-strength aperitif of herbs, roots and citrus. The house also makes bitters and confectionery flavourings.

Why this matters to you. Maraschino is a colourless cherry liqueur, not a syrup or the fruit itself. Strength and composition depend on the product, so read the label. The WHO reminds us that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.