Known most widely for its proprietary marasca cherry products, including Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur and Luxardo Original Maraschino Cherries, multi-generation family-owned premier Italian liqueur producer, Luxardo, now introduces its first clear base spirit to the United States market with the launch of Luxardo London Dry Gin, a juniper-forward expression that follows a family recipe going back two centuries. Imported by San Francisco’s Hotaling & Co., Luxardo London Dry Gin will be available for purchase through nationwide retailers for $35 beginning this summer.
Luxardo’s production of an ancestral juniper-based distillate can be traced back to 1833, only eleven years after the distillery’s founding in Zara, Dalmatia. This distillate serves as the blueprint for the Luxardo family’s Ginepro di Dalmazia recipe, developed in the early 1900s and now used to create the newly released Luxardo London Dry Gin. It employs careful selection of nine botanicals, including juniper, coriander, iris, angelica, licorice, cinchona, cinnamon, cardamom, and bitter orange, which are infused for 24 hours in a traditional copper pot still prior to distillation.
The distillate is refined for 19 days before being filtered, diluted to an ABV of 43%, and bottled. The resulting gin features a pronounced juniper, orange, violet, and black tea flavor, with gentle notes of spice and ginger and a somewhat citrusy aftertaste. The bottle’s artisanal label design references the Luxardo family’s heritage in Zara and Torreglia, Italy, paying homage to where the recipe was first conceptualized and later produced.
“We are proud to introduce our Luxardo London Dry Gin to the United States market, as it carries almost as much history as our Maraschino Liqueur, which inspired my family to found our first distillery in 1821,” says Matteo Luxardo, export director and sixth generation of the Luxardo family. “The recipe and tradition behind Luxardo London Dry Gin survived World War II, carried from Zara to our current distillery in Italy, and finally gives drinkers the ability to build Italian classics like the Negroni and Cardinale with Italian gin, as well as modern cocktails that also require our premium liqueurs.”
“The world of gin is becoming more exciting to explore every day,” says Hotaling & Co. CEO and President Dan Leese. “Luxardo London Dry Gin brings another carefully curated expression to Hotaling & Co.’s portfolio of innovative world gins, including our own Junipero produced in San Francisco, Nikka Coffey Gin from Japan, Ungava from Canada, Dingle from Ireland, and No. 3 from England.”
In addition to bringing a pronounced juniper taste to the simple Gin & Tonic and Negroni, Luxardo London Dry Gin can be enjoyed alongside Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur in classic cocktails such as the Aviation and Last Word. When paired with Luxardo Bitter Bianco, the first clear bitter released in the United States, Luxardo London Dry Gin shines in a refreshing Negroni Bianco:
Negroni Bianco
1 oz Luxardo London Dry Gin
1 oz Luxardo Bitter Bianco
1 oz Bianco Vermouth
Grapefruit peel or orange slice, for garnish
Fill a mixing glass with ice. Add the gin, Bitter Bianco, and vermouth, and stir until chilled. Strain over a large ice cube into a rocks glass
Luxardo London Dry Gin also serves as the base for the marasca cherry-infused fruit gin Luxardo Sour Cherry Gin, which debuted in 2018.
