ABOUT

Mannamaru Amaro

Sumptuous Sicilian mandarins are the driving force in this complex elixir.

Southeastern Sicily is world famous for the quality and variety of its citrus fruits (agrumi), especially blood oranges, mandarins, and lemons, many of which carry PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) designations. Mannamaru’s Gaetano Peci hails from Paternò, just outside Catania in the southern foothills of Mount Etna, where his grandfather (and namesake) long tended a mandarin grove that today provides the exotically aromatic, sweet-tart backbone of Gaetano’s expertly formulated amaro.

It could be said that Mannamaru is a modern descendant of rosolio, a citrus-driven liqueur crafted for centuries in Sicily and other agrumi-rich Southern Italian regions, including Calabria. Mannamaru’s citric centerpiece is the Avana mandarin (citrus reticulata), an intensely flavored variety native to the Catania area. The fruit is hand-harvested and hand-peeled, then infused in neutral spirit to extract the intensely flavorful essential oils. And while Mandarin is the driving force in this formulation, Mannamaru is a complex and fully realized amaro, incorporating a second infusion of botanicals that includes gentian root, burdock, star anise, wormwood, and much more (17 in all).

Here is another example of a spirits product that isn’t merely produced in a region but evokes that place of origin as viscerally as any wine could. Each sip offers direct passage to Sicily’s sun-splashed Mediterranean coastline, with all its saturated colors and vivid flavors. In a word: unforgettable!