Sambuca Manzi is a real legend that is worth trying if only to know what the taste of the very first anise liqueur was like, from which the history of this drink began more than 160 years ago. But, perhaps, sambuca would never have been born, had it not been for the black streak in the life of the Italian entrepreneur Luigi Manzi.
Sambuca Manzi is a colorless transparent liqueur with a strength of 42% with a pleasant anise flavor. Of all the popular brands, Manzi has the most dry taste.
Historical reference. One night, in one of the bays in the vicinity of the town of Civitavecchia, an extremely tired man in shabby sailor clothes went ashore from the ship. His name was Luigi Manzi, he was 39 years old, he spent the last few days hiding under boards in the hold, and of all his property, only a bright mind and hard-working hands remained with him.
Luigi Manzi was born in the town of Casamicciola, into a wealthy merchant family, and received an excellent education. From his youth, he dreamed of achieving the unification of the scattered Italian states, some of which were under foreign rule. In 1848, when an uprising began in his native Kingdom of Naples, Signor Luigi, at his own expense, equipped a detachment of 400 volunteers and went to war with them. The uprising was soon crushed, and the government announced a reward for the heads of the leaders of the rebels. Signor Manzi had to flee on a smuggling schooner to the neighboring Papal States.
Once in a foreign land, Luigi Manzi did not sit idly by, but began experimenting with the distillation of alcoholic beverages. Already in 1851, he wrote to friends that he had created a completely new anise liqueur that improved digestion. Even Signor Luigi himself did not expect that the fashion for sambuca would instantly spread throughout Italy.
Despite the popularity of the Manzi sambuca, there are still several mysteries associated with it. For example, its creator himself wrote that he named the drink in honor of “sambucello” – peddlers of anise water. But in Civitavecchia, a legend is still told that in one of the warehouses of the Manzi distillery, located directly above the port, there was a hole in the floor covered with a hatch. Through it, workers transferred alcohol directly to smugglers’ boats. This method of shipping finished products made it possible to avoid paying taxes and brought Signor Luigi such income that he jokingly called the hole in the floor a “holy hole” – santa buca. Moreover, Manzi did not pay taxes on principle: instead, he donated huge sums to organize patriotic underground circles and prepare the revolution of Giuseppe Garibaldi.
Another mystery is the recipe or at least the list of ingredients for Manzi sambuca. Signor Luigi has always said that it does not contain elderflower extract. This is indirectly confirmed by the notes of the blender: well acquainted with the characteristics of plants, Manzi, when describing sambuca, never mentioned the healing properties inherent in elderberry.
The old-timers of Civitavecchia claim to have heard a funny story from their grandfathers about how the Manzi company received herbs ordered for the manufacture of sambuca. The unloading of the ship always took place at night. The workers were led by the owner of the company himself, and later by his son Cornelio. There were no markings on the boxes by which one could determine what was contained inside. Under the bridge spies of competitors sat. In the early morning, they carefully examined the dust on the road, trying to find spilled grass from the boxes. So it was found that fennel seeds and green anise are used in the manufacture of Manzi sambuca. And – everything. Even the presence of dill extract in the drink is still in question.
Signor Luigi spent 11 years in Civitavecchia. Here he got married, earned fabulous money on the production of sambuca. But in 1860, after the annexation of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies to Italy, he returned to his native land. In Casamicciola, Manzi built a hotel and therapeutic baths in hot springs, conducted electricity in the city, built a railway that connected the place with Naples. Signor Luigi considered June 19, 1864, the happiest day of his life, when Giuseppe Garibaldi visited his hotel.
Luigi Manzi’s eldest son, Cornelio, inherited the company in 1873, after his father’s death. Until the Second World War, the Manzi sambuca was unmatched. The best specialists from all over Italy dreamed of getting a job at the famous enterprise. In 1936, a talented blender, Angelo Molinari, got a job at the factory in Civitavecchia.
During the war, the company experienced serious difficulties, the owners had to dismiss some of the staff, including Signor Angelo. Left out of work, he created his own sambuca recipe and founded the Molinari company.
After the war came the rise of Molinari and the decline of Manzi. Constant quarrels between the heirs of Signor Cornelio, huge unpaid loans led to the fact that in the middle of the 80s of the XNUMXth century, Erminio Ricci, the last owner of Manzi, simply handed over a patent for the production of sambuca to the city council of Civitavecchia.
But the ruined company was bought by Marcello Molinari, the son of Signor Angelo. Just like for Luigi Manzi, for Molinari sambuca was not just a source of profit, but part of the history of his native country. Since then, to the present day, Manzi sambuca has been produced by Molinari.
