‘On Carrubo

On Carrubo and Sciuscella are tributes to a fruit which has been a symbol of the history of Ischia Island, almost forgotten for one century: the carob, or in Neapolitan dialect ‘Sciuscella’. Carob was defined as ‘the chocolate of the poor’, fed the inhabitants of Ischia, in the most difficult moments of our history. It has some healthy properties and a taste similar to chocolate. The illustrations on the labels of the two products take inspiration from the Italian cinema of the 1950s, a period to which Carob was still part of our lives, along with the beauty and simplicity of those times.

‘On Carrubo is an amaro made from the of infusion of carob added to a wine spirit. A digestive of 28%, intense and fragrant, that combines the carob with the deepest flavours and roots of southern-Italian and Ischian culture: gentian, oranges and “Annurca” apples.

 

Carob Amaro, made by the infusion of carob in a wine spirit with orange, apple and gentian.

  •  vintage 2021
  •  bottles 5000
  •  capacity 500ml
  •  alcohol by volume 28%
  •  serving temperature 16° or 6°
  •  also enjoyable with ice

 

Pairings

Digestive, pleasant accompaniment to chocolate or cigars. Excellent for caffè corretto.

Figaro

Figaro fig liqueur, is our first discovery. In a village of twelve families and nine distilleries in Algarve, during XIXth century people used to offer to the travelers spirits made from the typical fruits of the area. In that village, from the work and passion of a Portuguese craftsmen, through the maceration of the fig in its own brandy, a unique liqueur was produced.

Figaro is a pleasant 18% liquor, a flavourful accompaniment to desserts, a delicious combination with cheeses and a unique ingredient for high mixology. Distributed in Italy, Portugal and UK, it is served in some of the best restaurants and bars in the world, such as the London Savoy Hotel, the Ritz London, the Hotel de Russie in Rome, and in Michelin-Starred restaurants in Europe, such as the Enrico Bartolini At the Mudec*** in Milan, L’Olivo** in Capri and Indaco* in Ischia.

 

Fig liqueur, form the fermentation and distillation of dried figs.

  • vintage 2021
  • bottles 5000
  • capacity 500ml
  • alcohol by volume 18%
  • serving temperature 16°

 

Pairings

Light digestive, pleasant with dry pastries, ice cream, dark chocolate, dried fruit, cheeses, cigars.

Frescura

The past of many Europeans, and many Ischians, was marked by a more daily and profound contact with nature.
Ischia, an agricultural land in the middle of the sea, has always been a microcosm of vegetation and perfumes. In the rural life in Ischia, there was a moment of the day dedicated to the daily harvest, gathering herbs and fruits that, on that day and in that season, the island could offer.

Frescura is the fresh digestive as it once was, produced by hand, wine spirit with a maceration of wild citrus fruits, fig leaves and herbs from the Mediterranean scrub, collected at the first morning light.
A fresh 28% digestive, dedicated to summer nights, the greenery and the scents of our splendid Island of Ischia, of which in the illustration it is possible to admire a wonderful glimpse of Sant’Angelo village with a scene of love in the shade of the Ischian vegetation.

 

Fresh liqueur of wild citrus fruits and fig leaves infused in wine spirit.

  • vintage 2022
  •  bottles 3500
  • capacity 500ml
  • alcohol by volume 28%
  •  serving temperature 6°

 

Pairings

Fresh digestive, enjoyable next to ice cream, sorbetto or fresh fruit desserts.

Gerone

Gerone I (Hero) tyrant of Syracuse was the one who placed the first stones of the Aragonese Castle of Ischia, a citadel on the sea and a defense for all the peoples who, over the centuries, have made that precious island their home, heart of the Mediterranean Sea. Gerone is the new beginning, the “new first stones” of Ischia craftsmanship and distillation, reborn from wine, from carob, and from the amphora.

Gerone is a unique brandy of 42% ABV “aged” only from carob’s tannins and refined in amphora.
An excellent after-dinner, which rises from the monotony of the classic brandy to seduce smell and taste. Its aromatic complexity, with notes of cocoa, walnut, cherry, vanilla, pleasantly entertains before each sip, welcoming a soft, magical sensation of wood, brought by the tannins of the carob, and finally the light cocoa aftertaste.

Gerone is the Italian brandy, from Ischia, capable of courting both rum and whiskey lovers, cigars and chocolate passionates.

 

Wine spirit, “aged” by carob’s tannins and refined in amphora.

  • vintage 2022
  • bottles 1000
  • capacity 500ml
  • alcohol by volume 42%

 

Tasting & Pairings

Tasting glass: old fashioned
Serving temperature: 16/18°
Pairings: after-dinner, chocolate, cigars

Purtuall

Purtuall is a fortified orange wine, a tribute to the fruit from which it is made and to the origin of its name. The orange was a rare exotic fruit in Europe until the sixteenth century, but thanks to Portuguese merchants and their vessels it was spread throughout the Mediterranean and the Americas. Thus it was that, from Tangier to Naples, the oranges took the common name of ‘Portugal’, or more correctly in Neapolitan ‘Purtu’all ‘.

An olfactory experience that transports us between the holds of those ships, laden with oranges and scents of fermented citrus fruits, just like in the 1600’s view of the Gulf of Naples, with the smoky Vesuvius framing the blue sea and the Lusitanians vessels. A wine in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea which, like so many other wines in the following centuries, needed to be fortified in order to face the journey and the time.

Thus, from the orange must come Purtuall, a unique and precious dessert wine 20%, the fortified wine of orange.

 

Fortified orange wine.

  •  vintage 2022
  •  bottles 750
  •  capacity 350 ml
  •  alcohol by volume 20%
  •  serving temperature 16°

 

Pairings

Dessert wine, unique accompaniment to dry pastry and chocolate.

Sciuscella

The carob, like other typical fruits of the southern Italy, were also used in winemaking. To allow the wine to reach a sufficient alcohol content, there was the tradition to enrich the grape must with other local fruits, such as quince, figs, or carobs. This ancient technique, almost lost, took the name of ‘Caulara’, and was, somehow, a way of bringing further aromas and notes of the terroir to wine.

This is how Sciuscella was born, the delicate carob liqueur 18%, macerated in a wine spirit and enriched with the wine itself. A light digestive and a seductive accompaniment to desserts. It represents the sweetness and the lightness of this fruit, and the memory of the ancient tradition of the ‘Caulara’.

 

Carob liqueur, macerated in a wine brandy and enriched with the wine itself.

  • vintage 2021
  •  bottles 3500
  •  capacity 500ml
  •  alcohol by volume 18%
  •  serving temperature 16°

 

Pairings

Light digestive, pleasant as an accompaniment to desserts or chocolate.