Distillery Info
Galliano is all that is great about Italy. A love of authentic craftsmanship combined with flair and imagination. A belief in doing things the right way, never cutting corners. Respect for heritage and tradition, but also embracing the future with open arms. A vivacity, a smile – ‘un sorriso’ – and a love of life, Galliano is ‘Spirito Italiano’.
Vaccari named his creation after Giuseppe Galliano “Maggiore Galliano”, an Italian Hero. “ Over Christmas 1895, during the 1887 - 1896 Italian campaign in Abyssinia he spent 44 days holding the Fort of Enda Jesus against an Abyssinian force of some 80,000 troops. He had a force of 2000 hardy soldiers, meaning he was outnumbered by 40 to 1. Some feat. For his efforts he received an immediate promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, a silver medal from the King and the enduring legacy of having his name on what is a quintessential Italian liqueur.
Like all proper heroes he died in battle shortly afterwards and consigned himself to the history books. At the height of Sig. Galliano's fame the son of a successful wine and spirits merchant was working to create his own legacy in the west Italian town of Livorno. Noticing a gap in the market for honouring fallen heroes, Arturo Vaccari set about making a new liqueur at his own distillery, in 1896. He was intent on creating a liqueur with a flavour all of it's own and legend has it that his recipe was based on a homemade liqueur that Galliano always carried into battle.
In his own indomitable fashion, Vaccari left no stone unturned in his quest to unearth the finest extracts of plants, herbs and spices. He finally found exactly what he was looking for hidden away in tiny premises at Via Cavour, Numero 11, Torino. It was here in 1880, that brothers Riccardo and Pietro Maraschi established their liqueur extracts business involving hydraulic infusions of all manner of herbs and spices.
Such was the Maraschi brothers’ talent for extracting intense and true flavours and fragrances, that the celebrated collaboration between the liqueur maker and supplier flourished over the years. Well over 100 to be more precise.
Maraschi & Quirici are still found in Torino. Though now in a pristine, modern factory, the standards of their founders prevail and they are world famous for the quality of their extracts. To this day Maraschi & Qurici are the sole providers of the ingredients which are at the essence of the incomparable taste and aroma of Galliano. Distillery Notes
