Fernet-Branca has been made in Milan since 1845, when Bernardino Branca first blended it as a bitter, herbal after-dinner digestivo; the brand still guards its exact formula so closely that it’s said to be known to only one person at the company today. It’s built from a proprietary mix of dozens of herbs, roots and spices, with the brand disclosing only some: aloe, bitter orange, chamomile, cardamom, cinchona bark, cinnamon, gentian, myrrh and saffron among them. Fernet-Branca’s own tasting page calls the first sip “rapture and the sudden discovery of something unexpected,” while its natural bitterness “presents itself firmly to the palate.”
CHARACTER
Orange Peel: an identifiable note on the nose alongside chamomile
Mint: pungent peppermint through the nose and a spearmint edge on the finish
Eucalyptus: an intense, cooling herbal note fading into menthol, separate from the mint
Dried Fruit: cooked prunes lingering into the finish
Forest Floor: deeper, rootier bitterness underneath the spice
TASTING NOTES
NOSE- Intensely spiced, pungent peppermint and orange peel opening over chamomile and deeper herbal roots.
PALATE- Bittersweet and full-bodied, bark and spice dominate with fresh mint and citrus zest running through.
FINISH- Long, bitter and strongly minty, with dried mint, spearmint and a cooked-prune sweetness fading into cooling menthol.
