Amaro Montenegro

Amaro Montenegro is a blend of 40 hand-selected botanicals inspired by the travels of herbalist Stanislao Cobianchi who fled his native Bologna to avoid becoming a priest.

Created in 1885 with the name Elisir Lungavita, it immediately became popular. 11 years later, it was renamed Amaro Montenegro as a tribute to the second Queen of Italy, Elena of Montenegro, upon her marriage to Prince Vittorio Emanuele III.

To this day Amaro Montenegro is created according to the original recipe, which has been guarded for over a century and carefully handed down by the Master Herbalists from generation to generation.

Over 40 botanicals, including spices, dried fruit, roots, seeds, bark, citrus peel, and flowers, are meticulously sourced from around the world. These are then chopped, mixed and boiled for just the right amount of time.

Selected botanicals are then macerated in an aqueous alcohol solution for 20 to 30 days, in order to draw out their precious extracts.

Next, distillation creates the heart of the spirit from the carefully chosen botanicals.

At the end of this long and delicate process, 12 essential extracts from the 40 botanicals remain. These 12 essences are blended together according to a secret recipe and transformed into the six distinct aromatic notes of Amaro Montenegro – bitter and herbaceous; spicy and floral; sweet and roasted; fresh and balsamic; fruity and vegetal; warm and tropical.

Alcohol, sugar and water are added then added before the final and fundamental step that makes this Amaro truly unique, ‘il Premio’.

Il Premio, which means prize in Italian, is a micro-distillate of 5 unique botanicals. It is so intense, that only a single drop is needed in a bottle to complete the celebrated recipe.

Presented in the unmistakable bottle inspired by alchemy, Amaro Montenegro is the perfect base for both classic and experimental cocktails and yet, with such a unique and complex flavour profile, it is also a cocktail itself.