Ingredients
More than forty herbs and spices, part distilled and part macerated, blended and then matured for six months in oak in the cellars beneath the Zwack works in Budapest.
- ✦Gentian root
- ✦Wormwood
- ✦Bitter orange peel
- ✦Cinnamon
- ✦Cardamom
- ✦Undisclosed herbs (40+)
History of the Brand
The origin story has Dr József Zwack, royal physician, handing a herbal digestif to Emperor Joseph II in 1790, who declared: 'Das ist ein Unikum!'
The Zwack family commercialised it in 1840 and it became Hungary's national digestif.
The family fled during the Second World War and again under communism, taking the recipe with them; the state produced a substitute in the meantime.
Péter Zwack returned after 1989, restored the original formula, and the family runs the company today.
Tasting Characteristics
Wormwood, dried orange, cola root, oak.
Aggressively bitter with cinnamon-spice sweetness pushing back; dense and syrupy.
Long, drying, unmistakably medicinal.
Flavor meter
How to serve it
- 01Chilled neat, in a small glass, after a heavy Hungarian meal.
- 02Over ice with an orange twist to soften it.
- 03Split with rye or bourbon in a stirred drink.
- 04Try Unicum Szilva, the plum-mellowed version, if the original is too much.
Where to Get It
Universal in Hungary; solid international distribution.
Liquor stores
Widely available; the round black bottle is unmistakable.
Online retailers
Original, Szilva and Riserva all ship.
In Budapest
The Zwack Museum runs tastings of the full range.
Where to buy Unicum
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Unicum FAQ
Is Unicum similar to Fernet-Branca?
+
Very much so — both are dark, wormwood-heavy, aggressively bitter digestifs. Unicum is a touch sweeter and spicier.
What is Unicum Szilva?
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A version mellowed on dried plums, noticeably sweeter and easier for newcomers.