Ingredients
A slow cold maceration of alpine roots, barks and flowers in grape spirit, sweetened lightly and rested before bottling — a grappa distiller's approach to amaro.
- ✦Yellow gentian root
- ✦Wormwood
- ✦Rhubarb root
- ✦Angelica
- ✦Bitter orange peel
- ✦Elderflower
- ✦Mint
- ✦Cinchona bark
History of the Brand
Distilleria Montanaro has worked in the Langhe hills since 1885, best known for grappa made from Barolo pomace.
Like many small Piedmontese distillers, it kept a house amaro alongside the grappa — first for family and locals, later bottled commercially.
The grape-spirit base is the tell: where industrial amari lean on neutral alcohol, Montanaro's carries a faint vinous weight from its Langhe origins.
It remains a small-production bottle, more likely to be found in Piedmont than on an international back bar.
Tasting Characteristics
Gentian, dried flowers and a whiff of grape spirit.
Firmly bitter and rooty with citrus peel and a light floral lift; sugar stays in the background.
Clean, dry and long, with lingering gentian.
Flavor meter
How to serve it
- 01Neat at cellar temperature after a long meal.
- 02Over one large cube with a lemon twist.
- 03In place of Punt e Mes in a Black Manhattan for a drier result.
- 04Splashed into a glass of cold soda as a bitter highball.
Where to Get It
Small production; mostly Piedmont, specialist Italian retailers and a handful of importers.
Piedmont enotecas
The easiest place to find it, often alongside the distillery's Barolo grappa.
Italian online retailers
Ship within the EU; stock comes and goes.
Specialist amaro importers
Occasionally list it in the US and UK.
Where to buy Amaro Montanaro
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Amaro Montanaro FAQ
Who makes Amaro Montanaro?
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Distilleria Montanaro in Gallo d'Alba, Piedmont, a grappa house founded in 1885.
Is it sweet?
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No. It is one of the drier Piedmontese amari, with gentian and root bitterness well ahead of the sugar.
How should I drink it?
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Neat after dinner, or over a single cube with lemon; it also works as a dry substitute for sweeter amari in stirred drinks.