The history of Girolamo Luxardo SpA is unique even by Italian standards: for almost two centuries the company belongs to the same family. Sambuca Luxardo is exported to 70 countries, most popular in England, USA, Canada and Japan. The drink is kosher.
Luxardo Sambuca dei Cesari has received the following awards and distinctions:
- in 1998 – a gold medal at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in London;
- in 1999 – the drink was awarded 90 out of 100 points on the scale of the American Beverage Tasting Institute in the Buying Guide to Spirits nomination;
- in 2003 – a silver medal at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in London;
- in 2010 – a bronze medal at the Harpers Wine and Spirits Design Competition in London.
The company sponsors the Luxardo Cocktail Cup, an international bartending competition held annually in the United States. The competition determines the best cocktail consisting of Luxardo drinks.
Types of Sambuca Luxardo
11 types are produced with a strength of 38%:
- Luxardo dei Cesari – a clear, colorless anise liqueur;
- Luxardo Passione Nera (Black Passion) – crimson-black sambuca with spices and licorice root;
- Luxardo with Cream Flavor – sambuca with the taste of espresso coffee and cream;
- Luxardo with Coffee Flavor – sambuca coffee variety “Arabica”;
- Luxardo with Cranberry Flavor – sambuca with cranberry flavor;
- Luxardo with Cinnamon Flavor – sambuca with cinnamon;
- Luxardo with Raspberry Flavor – raspberry flavored sambuca;
- Luxardo with Spiced Apple Flavor – sambuca with the taste of spices and apples;
- Luxardo with Chilli & Spice Flavor – sambuca with the taste of spices and chili peppers;
- Luxardo with Pear Flavor – pear flavored sambuca;
- Luxardo Sambuca with Cola Flavor – sambuca with cola flavor.
It’s easy to make Clarity’s Signature Cocktail at home. For this you will need:
- 23 мл Luxardo Sambuca dei Cesari;
- 30 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice;
- 23 ml sugar syrup;
- 75 ml of water;
- ice;
- thin slice of lemon.
Recipe: Drop a few ice cubes into a tall cocktail glass. Combine sambuca, lemon juice, sugar syrup, water in a mixer and pour over ice. Garnish with a slice of lemon on top, thread a straw and enjoy the delicate taste of the cocktail.
Historical reference. In 1817, the young consul of the Kingdom of Sardinia, Girolamo Luxardo, arrived in Zara, the capital of Dalmatia, which was under the protectorate of Austria. Zara (nowadays the city is called Zadar) is a strategically important port on the Adriatic, which twenty years before the events described belonged to the Venetian Republic. Therefore, 80% of the townspeople were Italians, and the Genoese Luxardo felt at home here.
On duty, the consul often received guests, and his wife, signora Maria Canevari, was known as an excellent hostess. She was especially good at various tinctures.
In those days, whole groves of maraschino cherries grew around Zara, the fruits of which are smaller than usual and have a specific sour-tart taste. The monks of the surrounding monasteries have long made liquor from these cherries.
Signora Maria liked the monastery drink, but the woman changed the recipe a little: she added rose petals and some other herbs for flavor. What exactly and in what proportions the wife of the Sardinian consul mixed, forever remained a secret, known only to her descendants. However, the resulting Maraschino liqueur was so perfect that it delighted even local connoisseurs.
Signor Luxardo appreciated the prospects that opened before him and in 1821 built a small distillery to produce the drink invented by his wife on an industrial scale. The affairs of Luxardo Distillery were so successful that in 1829 the emperor of Austria-Hungary himself drew attention to it. After tasting Maraschino, His Majesty awarded Luxardo Distillerie with the honorary title of PRIVILEGIATA FABBRICA MARASCHINO EXCELSIOR. Long ago, the Habsburg Empire disappeared from the maps, but the Luxardo family is still proud of this distinction.
Girolamo Luxardo died in 1865 at the age of 81, bequeathing the company to his son Nicolò. Under Signor Nicolo and his son Michelangelo, the company’s product range expanded significantly. The blenders of Luxardo Distillerie created unique recipes for limoncello, amaro, grappa and, of course, sambuca, which came into fashion in the second half of the XNUMXth century.
The new anise liqueur was named Luxardo Sambuca dei Cesari, after Julius Caesar. Michelangelo Luxardo was familiar with Gabriel d’Annunzio and shared his views. The famous writer even came up with a name for one of Luxardo’s cherry liqueurs: Sangue Morlacco – “Morlacco’s Blood” (“morlacco” was the name given to the warriors who defended Dalmatia from the Turks during the heyday of the Venetian Republic).
Luxardo products were in such demand that in 1913, Signor Michelangelo built a new, state-of-the-art factory, the largest in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
After the First World War, European borders were redrawn, and Zara ended up in Italy. The time between the two world wars can safely be called the finest hour of the Luxardo company. Maraschino liqueur has become one of the most fashionable drinks, Hemingway himself confessed his love for it.
The prosperity of the Luxardo family ended in 1943, when the British aviation left no stone unturned from the plant: Zara was bombed 72 times in a row. And in 1944 partisan formations of Tito entered the city. After what the Nazis did in Yugoslavia, even peaceful Italians could not count on indulgence.
During the evacuation, almost the entire family died, only the youngest son of Signor Michelangelo, Giorgio, managed to survive. Miraculously, without drowning, he crossed the Adriatic on a fragile fishing schooner, and from all his personal property he brought with him to Italy a seedling of maraschino cherries. In Italy, Giorgio met with the company’s senior technologist, who managed to rescue the Luxardo spirits recipe book.
Friends have been looking for a place for a long time where they could lay a new garden. In the end, Giorgio Luxardo acquired a site in the Veneto region, where acidic volcanic soils are similar to those in Zara. The new Luxardo factory was built in 1946 in the vicinity of Torrelli, not far from Padua. Signor Giorgio named the revived company in honor of his ancestor: Girolamo Luxardo SpA
The trouble is that the trees grow slowly, and the volatile public has managed to wean itself from Luxardo cherry liqueurs. And then sambuca became a real salvation for the company. It turned out that Sambuca dei Cesari is in no way inferior to more famous brands. In addition, Luxardo products do not contain any artificial additives, and only the best raw materials are used to make liqueurs. After sambuca was recognized as kosher, sales volumes increased significantly.
The company gradually began to regain lost ground. Signor Giorgio was succeeded by his sons: Nicolò and Franco. Then the sixth generation of the family came to the management of the company.
The current president of the company is Piero Luxardo. The head office and factory of Girolamo Luxardo SpA are located in Torrella. The area of the factory premises is 6800 m², the company employs 45 employees.
Signor Franco Luxardo, director of exports, argues that the small size of the plant is an advantage, not a disadvantage. This makes it easier for companies to respond to the demands of the times. For example, when “colored” sambuca came into fashion in Europe in the first decade of the XNUMXst century, it took Luxardo less than a year to create recipes, develop technologies and launch new products. None of the giant international concerns can boast of such promptness. It is also very important that the company is wholly owned by one family, so there is no need to seek the opinion of third-party shareholders to make decisions.