Gajárdo Triple Sec Radicale

In 2013, Marco Schiavo, the fifth-generation owner and master distiller of Distilleria Schiavo in a small town near Vicenza called Costabissara, began experimenting with a traditional way of producing Italian liqueurs. As a follower of the Slow Food movement, all commercially available products were too artificially sweetened and, above all, not bitter enough for him.

After meeting with like-minded bartender Giacomo Diamante, the two set out to try different macerations that offer an uncompromisingly herbal and bitter taste right through the finish, while also working perfectly in cocktails without adding the usual large amounts of sugar to the product.

The base for the Gajárdo products is a neutral alcohol made from fruit, to which an 18-day infusion of various herbs, roots and spices is added using bâtonnage techniques to give it its unique flavor. For the Triple Sec, among others, the peel of lemons, limes, bergamots, sweet oranges, bitter oranges and selected Ciaculli mandarins but also a few cloves are used.

After maceration, the Fernet is only quite coarsely filtered at room temperature, so it has not undergone the usual chill filtration and can therefore, despite its 40% vol still contain suspended solids and appear cloudy when consumed ice cold.

In the aroma, in addition to the prominent bitter notes, the whole bouquet of all imaginable citrus fruits appears right away, with bitter orange and tangerine setting the tone in the taste, as expected.

Drinking Recommendation:

Gajárdo Triple Sec works for mixing wherever a Triple Sec is called for, of course, but it shines best when paired with light ingredients, such as in a Margarita or White Lady.