Back again with a nice niché spirit I’ve found in the form of Quaglia I Classici Italiani Amaretto. This a beautiful little bottle made by Italians, for Italians, and it really shows in the taste! I happened to pick this up on a whim at a spirit specialist store when I was on a trip recently, and I’m really glad I did.
Bottled at 25% ABV, one of the first things that caught my attention when first uncorking this bottle was the crystallised brown sugar around the rim, showing the use of traditional brown sugar over modern pure white sugar, which is very much appreciated. The whole bottle gives the impression of being fully hand made, however I couldn’t find any information pointing towards this being the case.
The aroma has a very intense cinnamon punch with a slight anise twist, which caught me off guard at first. However, when drinking neat it’s surprisingly light and incredibly smooth, with some gentle nutmeg notes. The cinnamon doesn’t come in on the palate until the aftertaste, but that flavour does linger on the tongue for quite a while after swallowing. The spirit also has a very appealing mouth warming sensation, but doesn’t affect the throat at all in my experience. This spirit of course works nicely when diluted, having a beautifully sweet and delicate flavour which is sure to appeal to many.
I would highly recommend any mixologists that enjoy making Amaretto cocktails to give Quaglia a try, as this spirit is just begging to be in an amaretto sour! I do love though that this can be enjoyed neat and doesn’t feel like I’m drinking syrup (which unfortunately can’t be said for others in it’s category)!
Quaglia is a testament to the saying “You get what you pay for”; this costs only slightly more than the usual suspects in Amaretto and I much prefer it on almost every level. If you like Amaretto, or any spirit really, try other spirits in the categories you love! You’re sure to find new favourites, like Quaglia, that blow the popular ones out of the water easily!
This review’s recommended song is: “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” – Edith Piaf
