Don Ciccio & Figli is located right here in Washington DC, in the Ivy City neighborhood. I have had, at this point, basically their entire lineup of amaros - and all are good. This is the most recent I've sampled: a tonic-style amaro made with chinchona bark, which has quinine in it, cooked/roasted on iron plates before maceration, unaged, bottled at 20% ABV.
This style of amaro dates to at least 1881, according to the story on the bottle. Their house blend of herbs is combined in terracotta amphorae (!), which is certainly old world style - I appreciate that. Let's dig in:
Nose: Lemon peel and straight up cola. This smells like when you leave Coke or Pepsi out for a couple days and it evaporates, and then you scent the residue in the empty glass: complex cola-oriented scents here. Bitter gentian root also appears on the nose. It's bittersweet.
Mouthfeel: Quite syrupy and viscous.
Palate: Lemon peel, lemon zest, hints of bright sweet lemon, shaved tree bark, brown sugar, herbs/roots. The quinine here is very obvious in the end of the development, just like tonic water. The lemon keeps things just bright enough that the bitter flavors don't take over. Very nice.
Finish: Quinine bitterness, as with tonic water. Astringent.
Verdict: This is quite good. I like this quite a bit, and at 20% it's easy to just sip on a relaxed warm day in February. I might ask for slightly more depth - but it's also reasonably priced and probably is outstanding in cocktails. Very good.
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