The label of each bottle of Tunel absinthe is decorated with the inscription in French: “Je suis l’inspiration” (“I am inspiration”). Further, already in English, the producers assure that the drink gives warmth, light and the gentle touch of an angel. Many connoisseurs of wormwood tincture agree with this statement: it is not for nothing that Tunel is one of the world’s most popular absinthe brands in the world.
For more than a hundred years, the Tunnel has been produced by the Spanish company Destilerias Antonio Nadal SA. Wormwood, anise and other fragrant herbs, on which absinthe is infused, are harvested in the ecologically clean mountain valleys of the island of Mallorca, famous for its wonderful climate.
The history of the “Tunnel” began in 1898, when in the vicinity of the town of Bunyola, Senor Antonio Nadal Muntaner built a distillery, where he intended to make tinctures with medicinal herbs. At first, the company produced aniseed vodka and gin, then absinthe was also included in the product range. This brought the company a big profit: at the beginning of the XNUMXth century absinthe was very popular in Europe.
Señor Nadal came from a family that had been involved in winemaking for many generations. He received an excellent education, was interested in scientific discoveries and novelties of technology. For several years he lived in Cuba, where he thoroughly studied all the intricacies of the production of rum and various liquors. Don Antonio himself created recipes for three varieties of absinthe: green, red and black.
Catalans (Majorca – part of historical Catalonia) are known for their proud disposition and fanatical devotion to their native land. So Don Antonio, having become rich in the production of alcohol, in 1907 decided to invest in an ambitious project – the construction of the Tren de Soller railway line, which was supposed to connect the capital of the island, the city of Palma de Mallorca, with the isolated Val de Solier, surrounded on all sides by the mountains of the Sierra de Tramuntana.
Several tunnels had to be cut, the length of the longest of them (Tunel llarg) was almost three kilometers. It was he who connected Bunyola and Soller, a city in the Val de Solle valley.
For the beginning of the 1911th century, such a technical solution was very difficult. For four years workers worked, punching tunnels in the thickness of the mountains. The Tren de Soller railway line opened in XNUMX. The exit from Tunel llarg was very close to Nadal’s factory. The sight of the train leaving the tunnel impressed Don Antonio so much that he decided to produce all the products of his company under the Tunel trademark.
In the 10s of the XX century, difficult times came for the producers of absinthe: many European states completely banned the production and sale of this drink. But Nadal’s firm survived, and by the beginning of the 20s, all of its exports were completely reoriented to South America, where there were no such restrictions.
After the death of Don Antonio, the company was inherited by his son. Thanks to the business qualities of its owners, the company survived all the crises and wars of the 1936th century. The distillery in Bunyol stopped for a long time only once: from 1939 to XNUMX, during the Civil War.
In 1986, the grandson of the founder of the company sold it to the Moray-Garo brothers. Since that time, the true heyday of the company began. The new owners retained both the Destilerias Antonio Nadal name and the Tunel trademark. Even the copper alambic (alembic) purchased by Don Antonio is still operated without rest at the plant in Bunol. And everything is the same as 100 years ago, it is heated on a fire made of firewood. But if in 1986 Destilerias Antonio Nadal produced 80 liters of alcohol per year, by the beginning of the 000st century, the annual production volume exceeded 4 million liters. Most of the products are exported to Europe and the CIS.
In 1998, a new factory for Destilerias Antonio Nadal was built near Palma de Mallorca. Its area is 12 m² (the area of the old plant in Bunyol is 000 m²).
But even at the new enterprise, equipped with the latest technology, absinthe is produced strictly according to recipes compiled by Antonio Nadal himself. Only natural ingredients are used to make the tincture.
Types of Absinthe Tunnel
There are three varieties of Tunel absinthe with a strength of 70 degrees:
- Tunel Green is an emerald green absinthe. Does not contain artificial colors, and chlorophyll decomposes in the light. To preserve the bright color of the drink, it is bottled in green glass. Absinthe has a spicy aroma with notes of anise, cinnamon and almonds. Taste – wormwood, exquisitely bitter;
- Tunel Black is a black absinthe whose unusual color is due to the fact that it is insisted on the fruits of black acacia. Tones of black acacia are woven into the rich anise scent. Taste – wormwood, very rich;
- Tunel Red – red absinthe with pomegranate extract. Smells like anise and coriander. The taste is bitter, with a sweet and sour aftertaste of pomegranate juice.
