Bordiga Chiot Montamaro Amaro

Bordiga Chiot Montamaro AmaroIn the mountains of Piedmont, a chiot in the local Occitan dialect refers to an alpine plateau with a resting area (hut) for shepherds or travelers. Bordigas Montamaro Chiot is an alpine style amaro that was first produced in the 1930s. We love this amaro because of its nuanced flavors and big mouthfeel that bely its low ABV. On our arbitrary bitterness scale (1 being very sweet and 10 very bitter) Chiot is 5 10. Genepy gives an exclusive herbal and

In the mountains of Piedmont, a ‘chiot’ in the local Occitan dialect refers to an alpine plateau with a resting area (hut) for shepherds or travelers. Bordiga’s Montamaro Chiot is an alpine-style amaro that was first produced in the 1930s. We love this amaro because of its nuanced flavors and big mouthfeel that bely its low ABV. On our arbitrary bitterness scale (1 being very sweet and 10 very bitter) Chiot is 5/10. Genepy gives an exclusive herbal and floral sensation, yarrow gives the typical herbal taste, gentian a touch of bitterness, and thyme and mint a soft mentholated taste. Excellent by itself, try it in an espresso martini with your favorite cold brew coffee or with Fred Jerbis Bitter for a chocolatey spin on the Milano Torino.

As with all of Bordiga’s infusions, Chiot Montamaro is made from actual botanicals, many of them foraged wild. In this case, all the botanicals except for the genepy are foraged in the mountains that loom to the west of the distillery. The genepy, being a protected plant, is cultivated and manually picked in the mountains. After harvest, the botanicals are dried naturally at altitude in a dark, ventilated room. They are then infused individually (for ideal extraction) in the distillery in Cuneo. They are skillfully combined by the master distiller for a balanced aroma and flavor. The Bordiga distillery uses no purchased extracts, no centrifuge or ultrasound to speed up the extraction, no solvents; compared with more commercial examples, this entirely natural and traditional amaro shows outstanding depth of flavor and persistence.

Primary Botanicals: Mint, thyme, juniper, yarrow, genepy, caraway, wormwood, anise, Gentiana lutea, Gentiana acaulis

Botanical Source: Local are wild foraged between 500 and 1,700 meters, with the majority above 800 meters. Genepy, a protected plant, is the exception and is cultivated above 2,000 meters. Others are sourced from Asia.

Production: Botanicals are infused individually in organic neutral wheat spirit for 20-60 days. Alpine water and beet sugar are added. The product rests for 20-30 days in stainless steel. It is then paper filtered and bottled. (Info courtesy of Cream Wine Company)