Vecchio Magazzino Doganale was started in 2016 by Ivano Trombino. However, the name goes back much farther in his family history. This was the name of his great grandfather’s agricultural company in the 1850s. Ivano Trombino owned fields of Agricultural products, passed on through his family through generations. One day while searching through his grandfather’s old house he discovered some old papers. In those papers he kept seeing the name JEFFERSON and that is where he found these recipes.
Jefferson came to Calabria in the 19th century by way of a ship that was full of illegal tobacco. Jefferson’s ship crashed off the coast of Calabria and that is how he met Ivano’s great great grandfather whose name was GIOCONDO. Giocondo was a perfume producer by trade which has quite a few similarities to making liquor. So after some time they started to make liquor together using the recipes Ivano many years later unearthed in his Grandfathers house.
Ivano felt there was a big gap in liquor between who was working using chemical compounds and who was working in a Natural way.
Here we call it AMARO IMPORTANTE because of trademarks.
Ingredients:
3 days in Alc. 80%- Lemons, Grapefruit, Bergamot, Oranges, and Sweet Oranges – Macerated Separately.
10 days in Alc. 60% – Absinthe Macerated Separately.
10 days in Alc. 40%- Rosemary Eucalyptus, Oregano, Gentian, Rhubarb – Macerated Separately.
25% White Can Sugar
Then all ingredients are blended.
Sources:
Rocca Imperiale: The Capital City of Lemons in the Mediterranean Sea
Bisignano: The family garden in Cosenza sweet and bitter oranges, rosemary, pinecones, pine needles
Pellaro: Southern Calabria for bergamots
Alcohol (Grain, Corn, and Barley) inside is a real liquor (not cheap) taste is similar to white bourbon.
The picture on the label is of Ivano who does wear that hat.
NEVER SERVE COLD
Giocondo, the great great grandfather of Ivano, the owner of Vecchio Magazzino Doganale. A special coffee spirit made with ethiopian coffee extracted at extremely hot temperatures and toasted acorns. A coffee spirits that reminds you of drinking alcoholic espresso. Amazing on its own but also interesting in classic drink twists.
Ingredients
✓ Alcohol (from grain, corn and barley)
✓ Ethiopian coffee- because it was an Italian colony and the only available before WWII.
✓ toasted acorns- This was used as a Coffee substitute because they couldn’t afford beans. So they roasted acorns instead.
✓ Vanilla
✓ Bitter oranges, aloe, cinchona, quassia
✓ White cane sugar (24%)
Serving:
Add a shot of Giocondo to Espresso at the end of the meal
Espresso Martini
23% Alcohol
41/50 °F as service temperature
Meraviglioso is a dream, the dream of Ivano Trombino, the owner of Vecchio Magazzino Doganale. He wanted to make something he really liked to drink and Meraviglioso is that product. An herbal amaro with lots eucalyptus and Mediterranean flavor from the olives and basil.
Perfect to drink straight, and astonishing mixed with agave spirits. On the label olive sprouts and nocellara and carlirrea. The eucalyptus, pine needles, and basil are from the Sila mountains surrounding the distillery.
Ingredients
✓ Alcohol (from grain, corn and barley)
✓ Eucalyptus, laurel, rosemary, pine tree, aloe
✓ Gentian,
✓ Rhubarb,
✓ cinchona, quassia, olive leaf,
✓ basil
✓ White cane sugar (18%)
Serving:
Perfect to drink on its own with some Ice and MERAVIGLIOSO.
Cuts the smoke of the cigarette or Cigar
25% Alcohol
41/50 °F as service temperature
The ” Bergamotto Fantastico ” (fantastic is the name of the variety of Bergamotto) fruit liqueur. Bergamot is an ancient variety of citrus fruit that has been present in Italy for centuries in Calabria, where it has found its ideal habitat. The Vecchio Magazzino Doganale wanted to pay homage and make known the qualities of this extraordinary fruit, creating an original liqueur with an infusion of Bergamot peels.
Bergamotto Fantastico is produced with only FRESH FRUIT, peeled by hand from the garden of Pellaro. After two months of infusion filtered with linen cloths and bottled, the scent and taste of authentic Calabrian Bergamot, the king of citrus fruits.
This is different than other products like ITALICUS because they use FRESH not dry Bergamotto.
Ingredients
✓ Alcohol (from grain, corn and barley)
✓ Coriander, cardamom
✓ Bergamot «fantastico», lavender, aloe
✓ White cane sugar (25%)
Great for Tea Drinkers and to Pair with Tequila
Cocktail: 2oz bergamotto, 2oz tequila, top of Soda Water
32% Alcohol
41/50 °F as service temperature
Mediterranean Version of Chartreuse
In the legend, Madame Milu was a dancer of Moulin Rouge in Paris. Mr. Jefferson fell in love with Madame Milu during a trip to Paris.
Madame Milù is an innovative digestive liquor, but at the same time his roots are deep in the italian liquor tradition of the XIX century. All the botanicals come from the farm Vecchio Magazzino Doganale in Calabria. Great mixed, especially with Cognac or Rum. Really herbaceous and strong liquer.
Ingredients
✓ Alcohol (from grain, corn and barley)
✓ Mint, marjoram, absinthe, elderflower, chamomile
✓ Pine cone resin, melissa, wild fennel, phyllanthus
✓ White cane sugar (23%)
This is the only product where they macerate two items together in this case the pinecone resin and wild fennel. The reason is because they are to strong when used individually.
45% Alcohol
41/50 °F as service temperature
Roger is an amaro? Or a bitter? Both! In italian the word Amaro means Bitter but at the same time these are two different kind of liquors. But Roger not, Roger is both, it’s suitable to mix as a bitter, in premium drinks, or to drink straight, just with some orange peel.
Its like the bad brother of Jefferson because its more bitter even if its lighter in alcohol. This is 5% lower then Amaro Importante. The bitter part is stronger.
Here you have a lot more gentian.
Ingredients
✓ Alcohol (from grain, corn and barley)
✓ Gentian, quassia, coriander
✓ Bergamot, bitter oranges, sweet oranges, lemon, carlina
✓ White cane sugar (18%)
25°
41/50 °F as service temperature
Mixology– if you put in a negroni with vermouth and gin it’s not a normal negroni it’s more Mediterranean. It will be a stronger more bitter version and also have that coriander finish.
Named after the specific varietal of Orange in Calabria. Ivano started producing this product because his peers told him he did not make a TRUE Calabrian product. This product stands TRUE to Calabria since oranges from here are very famous.
Washington is an orange liquor, produced only with oranges from a small rural site in Bisignano, Calabria.
Amazing straight or mixed in traditional mixology where an orange taste is needed, or in classical aperitives.
Only the Peels from the Fruits are used. The herbs are macerated in hot water because it helps develop a sweeter taste.
Ingredients
✓ Alcohol (from grain, corn and barley)
✓ Washington oranges, bitter oranges,, sweet oranges, lemon,
grapefruit
✓ Coriander, elfdock, green chiretta
✓ White cane sugar (20%)
You can subsitute in Washington for Triple Sec
-Good Take on Orange Curacao
– The competitor would be Amara and this product is more bitter with less sugar.
28% Alcohol
41/50 °F as service temperature
