Amaro Montenegro

Forty botanicals, one bottle, and a recipe that hasn't budged since Stanislao Cobianchi drew it up in Bologna in 1885. Amaro Montenegro is the amaro that even people who claim to dislike amari tend to fall for — softer and more perfumed than the bracing, medicinal bitters it shares a shelf with.

Cobianchi named it for Princess Elena of Montenegro, and there's something faintly regal about the way it drinks. The exact botanical blend is a closely held family secret, though nutmeg, orange peel, coriander and a whisper of vanilla are in there somewhere, brought together in a mix the distillery calls the "Premio" essence.

Pour it and you get orange oil and dried herbs on the nose, warm and inviting rather than austere. The palate is where it wins you over — bittersweet, rounded, carrying candied citrus, a little baking spice and rosewater, with the bitterness kept on a light leash. The finish is gentle, more lingering warmth than punishing herbal grip. At 23% it's an easy sipper.

This is your after-dinner bottle, the one you reach for when the plates are cleared and nobody's in a hurry to leave.

How to Serve

Neat at room temperature, or over a single large cube if you want it longer and cooler. A tumbler does the job. It also makes a superb, low-effort spritz with soda and an orange slice.

Where to Drink It

Bar Termini in Soho for a proper Italian aperitivo hour. Sette at The Twenty Two in Mayfair for an amaro after supper. Quo Vadis in Soho, where the after-dinner trolley takes bitters seriously.

Food Pairings

Skip the mixer and pour it alongside a wedge of dark chocolate torte — the orange and cocoa lean into each other beautifully.