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StateWays | www.stateways.com | July/August 2017 28 CORDIALS & LIQUEURS | CATEGORY UPDATE "WE ARE ALSO NOTICING A SLIGHT EXHAUSTION TO OVERLY SWEET AND SALTY FAVOR PROFILES, WITH A LEAN TOWARDS BITTER." —WILLY SHINE, JAGERMEISTER BRAND MEISTER are looking to discover new combinations of fl avors," says Willy Shine, Jagermeister Brand Meister. "We are also noticing a slight exhaustion to overly sweet and salty favor profi les, with a lean towards bitter." Many liqueurs and amari hail from Italy, France, Germany and other parts of Europe. Now a number of American craft distillers are getting into the arena. For example, Washington, D.C.-based Don Ciccio & Figli is translating generations of amaro expertise from the Amalfi Coast of Italy to the American market. In 2014, the company launched Amaro delle Sirene. "At that time they were not many amari producers in the U.S.," says founder Francesco Amodeo. "We were trying to create a new domestic category." The portfolio now includes 13 spirits. BITTER IS SWEET "Bitter has got to be the number-one trend in the liqueurs category," Batchelor says. "All bitter brands are growing right now, driven by both consumer and bartender interest." Cam- pari America's Cynar amaro has seen dramatic growth since the launch of Cynar 70 in 2015, and the recently acquired Averna, which has been growing at double digit rates. Its Sicilian Braulio amaro is rested in oak barrels before release. "The number of amaros on the market has been trending upwards," Belbayeva says, "and customers always want to try the new ones on our shelves." "Italian bitter liqueurs have been growing double digits in the past few years as American consumers are becoming more accustomed to bitter fl avors," says Tanya Cohn, brand manager for Galliano. In response to market demand, the company has just added Galliano L'Aperitivo Italian bitter liqueur to its port- folio in the U.S. "Over the last few years, consumers have been craving bitter fl avors. As a result, we've seen an array of bitter spirits, liqueurs and vermouths enter the market," Robbat says. Anchor Distill- ing has introduced number of bitter products including Luxardo Amaro Abano, Tempus Fugit's line of Alessio Vermouths and Gran Classico. Most recently it released Luxardo Bitter Bianco, the fi rst clear bitter in the U.S. market. NEW WAVE FLAVORS "Liqueurs are moving towards refreshing, bitter and dry. Veg- gie and unusual fl avors are becoming more popular - bergamot, yuzu, rhubarb or rocket, just to name a few," says Giuseppe Gallo, founder of the new company Italicus. Gallo aims to re- vive the traditional Italian liqueur rosolio by introducing Italicus Rosolio Di Bergamotto, made with Calabrian bergamot. Don Ciccio & Figli's latest release is C3 Carciofo, which is a version of the traditional Italian liqueur. "Tropical, citrus and fl oral liqueurs tend to be our top per- forming fl avor profi les," says Kaj Hackinen, vice president and founder of Back Bar Project, producer of Giffard and Bigallet liqueurs. "For a long time, there was a trend of drinking aus- tere, bitter, spirit-forward cocktails. Now, we're seeing a moving trend toward fun, bright and festive cocktails that utilize fl avors like banana, elderfl ower, peach, pineapple and passionfruit."