Bottega Sambuca d’anice stellato Liquore

Bottega is a family distillery in the Veneto, the grappa house founded at Bibano in 1977 on a vine growing line that reaches back to 1635. Its sambuca is a classic Italian aniseed liqueur built on alcohol, sugar and natural flavourings, with the essential oils drawn from star anise seed by steam distillation. That careful method gives a pure, clearly structured anise character, smooth yet long lasting, and the liqueur is bottled at a firm 40%.

The nose is intense aniseed lifted by a fine floral note with a slight elderberry character, the palate velvety and round with pronounced anise and a touch of liquorice. As a high strength anise liqueur it brings sweetness, aromatic liquorice and a clear backbone to a glass. The traditional serve is con la mosca, flambeed with three coffee beans, and it sits beautifully alongside espresso or dark chocolate. Take it neat, slightly chilled or on the rocks as a digestif, drop it into coffee, or use it as the aniseed accent in stirred and built drinks.