Distillery Info
Established in 1821 by Girolamo Luxardo and still entirely controlled by the same Founding Family.
Luxardo Maraschino became an essential cocktail ingredient internationally, along with other products that the Luxardo family began producing soon after the foundation, such as the Cherry Liqueur “Sangue Morlacco”, the Original Maraschino Cherries, Limoncello and many others. In 1913 the third generation heir Michelangelo Luxardo built a very modern distillery, probably the largest in the entire Austro – Hungarian Empire. Even today people arriving in Zara cannot help noticing the imposing building on the harbour edge, which housed the headquarters and the residence of the Luxardo Family.
Luxardo Maraschino Originale is still produced according to a special formula created by Girolamo Luxardo in 1821.
When Luxardo marasca cherries are harvested at the beginning of every summer, they are put in alcoholic infusion in larch-wood vats together with some leaves and branches of the same trees for up to three years. When ready, both the liquid and the solid parts are distilled in traditional copper pot stills, separating the heart from heads and tails. Only the heart of the distillate is then allowed to mature in ash-wood vats. The last process consists in transforming the distillate in liqueur by adding a simple syrup of water and sugar lowering the ABV to 32%. The tall green bottle with its red cap is still hand-plaited in straw within the company, and resembles the Maraschino bottles produced in Zara in the early days, where the straw was placed in order to prevent damage during transportation. - Winery Notes
