Skip to main content

Friends, Romans, Drinkers: Meet Italicus, the New Award-Winning Spirit You Need To Try

Hundreds, if not thousands, of spirits make their debut every year—but of those only a handful can call themselves award-winners. Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto—Italicus, for short—is a new citrus liqueur that is spirits expert Giuseppe Gallo’s attempt at reviving Italy’s original aperitivo that can now count itself as part of that handful.

Only hitting US shores in the summer of 2017 (it debuted in London in 2016), Italicus is made from bergamot oranges that are sourced from a Protected area of Origin (IGP) in Calabria, as well as Sicilian citrons. The other ingredients in the spirit are also sourced from Italy.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The recipe of origin that Gallo tried to reproduce was from the 1800s for a drink called Rosolio di Torino, which has roots that stretch back all the way to the Renaissance noblewoman Catherine de Medici. The drink was eventually banned by the 19th Century King Vittorio Amedeo III (who preferred vermouth), but continued on in back rooms across Italy for generations.

Recommended Videos

Once Gallo had a recipe—lavender, yellow roses, Roman chamomile, melissa balm, and gentian were all used in the original recipe he found—Gallo began to fine tune it. Skip ahead ten years and Italicus was born.

Not set on creating a spirit that merely evokes pure Italianness, the award-winning bottle designed by Stranger & Stranger is also meant to bring to mind the land of the spirit’s origin. This seems only right, seeing as the name means “Italy.” Among the Italian notes, the bottle itself is based on a Roman column, the color comes from the waters of the Amalfi Coast (which you should be adding to your vacation plans if you haven’t already), and the stopper features the god of wine, Bacchus, posed like Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man.

Italicus
Italicus

The only way to make it more Italian would be to put a bowl of pasta in one of Bacchus’ hands and a slice of pizza in the other. (Kidding.)

Italicus is 20% ABV and retails for around $45. It is only available in select markets so far, but with its success so far, the company says it hopes to expand. If you happen to be traveling to Europe, it is also available in multiple countries there.

Sam Slaughter
Sam Slaughter was the Food and Drink Editor for The Manual. Born and raised in New Jersey, he’s called the South home for…
Sierra Nevada drops a peach of a new beer
A new fruit beer from a big craft name
Sierra Nevada Peachy Little Thing IPA.

Not to be outdone by the many other producers of the craft beer movement, Sierra Nevada is also dropping new brews. The west coast brewery just released a new beer in Peachy Little Thing. It's the latest installment in the popular Limited Hazy Series.

The stats on the beer? Peachy Little Thing has 18 IBUs and comes in at 7% ABV. It's made with both Alora and Magnum hops and pours a pretty color. You can expect to see the beer on retail shelves by Memorial Day Weekend.

Read more
A duo of new beers and a new design from Oregon label Crux
Crux beers.

Crux Fermentation Project is dropping a pair of new beers and a new can design. The west coast brewery is releasing a hazy IPA, non-alcoholic pilsner, and issuing a new look for its standard pilsner. Available now, the beers can be found in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.

“Whether sipping a session-able NØMØ Bright Sky Pils, letting Half a Brain Hazy brighten your day, or enjoying a classic pilsner that is as bright as the Central Oregon sun, Crux has you covered just in time for summer,” says Cam O’Connor added, Crux Fermentation Company's brewmaster and managing director.

Read more
Widmer releases latest beer to celebrate 40th anniversary
Widmer Northwest Pilsner.

Celebrating 40 years in the craft beer business, Widmer Brothers is releasing new brews throughout 2025. Pouring at Portland-area pubs now is Northwest Pilsner, the brand's German-inspired NW pale lager. Light and cracker-like, the beer is made with Crystal, Magnum, and Saaz hops.

Throughout the year, Widmer will be releasing various beers that pay homage to the company's four decades in craft brewing. The releases are surprises, so there's no telling quite what's next. This beer in particular arrives at a good time, as the weather is warming up and people are thirsting for refreshing lager style beers.

Read more