Galliano is a sweet herbal liqueur. It was invented by Italian brandy manufacturer Arturo Vaccari in 1896 in Livorno, Italy. It was named after the Italian war hero Giuseppe Galliano.Galliano is made from 30 different herbs and spices, which are at least star anis, juniper, lavender, yarrow, peppermint and cinnamon. It is sweetened with sugar and glucose syrup and coloured as intensive yellow with tartrazine.

First herbs and spices are soaked on strong alcohol. Then the soup is been distilled and fresh vanilla beans are being added. Later it is filtered and diluted to distilled water, sweetened and bottled on the original bottle, which remains the Rome age pillar. Galliano is being enjoyed as a digestive but more commonly used for cocktails. The most famous could be Harvey’s Wallbanger and Golden Dream. The price of a 50cl bottle was 12.99€.

Intensively yellow and thick Galliano has a very aromatic and intensive nose. It’s strong and at least anis, licorice and of course, vanilla, can be found. It’s so much better than its lill-brother Galliano Vanilla, which is just much more vanilla and nothing else. When opening the bottle, the alcohol pungent burn was intense, but later after a few months, through oxidation the taste is more mellow and easier to enjoy. The strong yellow colour feels quite artificial and so it is a bit weird to pour to the glass. Anyway, the taste is more important and it does not feel artificial at all. 

Galliano L’Autentico is a very well done herbal liqueur, but due to its intensity it’s not so easy to drink neat. Alcohol volume is also high, quite unusual for herbal liqueurs, which normally are from 30 to 35%. I bet the reason for that is because Galliano is mostly used on cocktails, so higher alcohol volume retains flavours better. Usually it has been used just one centilitre per a drink, so it can be months or even years in the shells of a normal bar. 

So even it is tasty on its own, the best way is using it on cocktails. Just a small amount of it is enough to give lots of flavour, so it is best to use carefully, not to ruin the other tastes you might want to have on your drink. For home bartenders, I highly recommend this upon the Vanilla version. 

85/100