Fernet-Branca is decidedly one of the stalwarts in the fernet world.
There’s no sweetness here, and if there’s any sugar in the recipe, you won’t taste it.
Fernet-Branca boasts a recipe of 27 herbs, roots, and spices, only some of which are revealed, including cinchona, rhubarb, chamomile, cinnamon, linden, iris, saffron, galangal, and some weirder herbs like zedoary and myrrh.
The result is a liqueur that simply cannot be mistaken for any other.
The nose is rich with notes of coffee bean, (very) dark chocolate, dried plums, and an almost medicinal level of spice — a variety of tree barks and dried herbs that offer an outrageously bitter aroma.
The palate pulls no punches. Bitterness attacks the throat straight away, and those bark and dried fruit notes instantly grip the palate. Notes of old wine, ginger, raisins, and mulling spices hit first, then the cloves and cinnamon pour on the spicy pungency.
That fruity bitterness clings to the throat for ages, and Fernet-Branca’s medicinal (and healing) aftertaste is downright legendary.
39% - 70cl
Italy