WHAT IS WHISKY AMARO?
‘Amaro’ is a very popular type of bittersweet Italian liqueur that’s typically drank after dinner to aid digestion. They’re commonly wine-based, but we can’t grow grapes in Scotland – so we figured, why not combine two of our all-time favourite things (whisky and amaro) and try to create a completely new, completely unique drink.

The inception of Whisky Amaro came about back in 2015 as part of a collaboration with Kings County Distillery, Brooklyn, who were the first whiskey distillery in New York City to reopen since Prohibition. The challenge we set ourselves: use botanicals and their unaged whiskey – called ‘moonshine’ in the States – to create a dry liqueur that mimicked the flavour of an aged whiskey, but without using any oak. It was just a bit of fun, and limited to only a few hundred bottles, but it planted a seed in our head: given how well that trifecta of allspice, coriander and hibiscus worked with the grain, could we use it as a starting point for an even more complex and progressive spirit? After 3 years of intensive recipe development, we had a delicious, definitive answer.

WHISKY COMPONENTS
To make Whisky Amaro, we first start with the base, which is carefully made up of 3 different Scotch single malt and grain whiskies. We source, disgorge (i.e., empty) and blend the casks on site at the distillery.

• Ardmore (7-year-old, bourbon 1st fill), for a subtle hint of sweet, billowy smoke

Role: Adds body and binds the many layers of natural flavour

• North British (3-year-old, virgin oak), for toffee-like oak and spice, like a Scottish bourbon

Role: Reliable woody backbone to underpin the berried fruit

• Invergordon (12-year-old, ex-sherry), for a bit of punch and depth

Role: Sherried punch and depth to balance the bitter finish

Then we add nine botanicals, which all contribute their own specific flavour characteristic: lovage (minerally), kola nut (earthy), lingonberry (jammy), fresh lemon peel (bright citrus), rhubarb root (savoury), quassia (bitter). And finally, instead of adding sugar and E numbers to colour, like most other Amari, we sweeten with a blend of Sussex blossom and local honey from rooftop hives in Edinburgh and simply let the natural magenta colour shine through.

The end result takes you on an extraordinary flavour journey from sweet to sour to herbal to fruity to bitter to umami. It’s truly a modern Scottish dram unlike anything else you’ve ever tasted.