Bordiga "Centum herbis" Herbal Bitters

700ml bottle

28% abv

This historic Alpine recipe has been produced in Bordiga since the foundation in 1888. ‘Centum Herbis’ means ‘100 Herbs’ in Latin, and this is Bordiga’s version of a mixed herbal liqueur, a drink that is found on both sides of the Piedmontese Alps. Not 100 herbs, but many, and mostly local, which is to say grown in these mountains that loom on the border of Piedmont and France, not far from the distillery. Although this contains a hint of the classic local bitter herbs gentian and wormwood, this is not an amaro. And while mint is the leading ingredient this is a very complex combination of flavors; we find it an excellent digestive after dinner but also very versatile in cocktail combinations and subs well for Chartreuse.

As is traditional, all the local botanicals are grown at altitude, harvested by hand by local foragers, and dried at altitude in a dark, ventilated room. When ready, the local and imported botanicals are infused individually in alcohol until the different infusions are complete, then combined by Mario, the master distiller. (This is made mostly of local herbs.) Water and sugar are added; after resting for several weeks the liqueur is filtered and bottled. Modern techniques such as centrifuging, ultrasound or the use of chemical solvents to speed up extraction are never employed. No purchased extracts are used. 

Peppermint and eucalyptus give the mentholated taste, genepy gives an exclusive herbal and floral sensation, the two gentian and cinchona give the bitterness.

On our perceived bitterness scale of 1-10: Centum Herbis is a 6 (1 = sweet  10 = really bitter).

The Bordiga distillery was founded in 1888 by Pietro Bordiga, a passionate bartender and herbalist, who was living in the northern Italian city of Torino (Turin) at the foot of the Alps. Torino was, and still is home to a thriving cafe and theater culture and is also the birthplace of Vermouth di Torino. Using his knowledge of local botanicals and the extraction of essential oils, Pietro created a recipe for vermouth that is still used today. His vermouth was greatly appreciated and requested by bartenders and cafes throughout Torino, which led him to begin producing Vermouth commercially and opening the Bordiga Distillery. 

He decided to locate his distillery in the small charming town of Cuneo where his family originated. Cuneo offered him a strategic position a little over an hour south of Torino, where he would deliver his goods, and also close to the *Occitan Alps, where he was sourcing his wild botanicals. The climate here, influenced both by the mountains and by proximity to the Mediterranean sea, creates herbs that are particularly rich in essential oils and aromas.

The distillery used to be in the historic heart of Cuneo, and was then moved to the road just outside town leading to the mountains, where it is now. At the heart of the building is the ancient copper pot-still that dates from 1888. Bordiga has continually produced their collection of vermouths, including the classic Vermouth di Torino; gin; and a number of herbal liqueurs and amari since 1888 using the original recipes (and the original recipe books!) developed by Pietro Bordiga. Unlike most of their commercial counterparts, they continue to make all their own infusions, and most of the wild plants they use, such as gentian, juniper, and chamomile, are still gathered in the Alps nearby.

When Pietro established the distillery he befriended and employed local ‘mountaineers’ whose livelihood for generations was based on foraging herbs. These relationships endured and over one hundred and twenty years later local mountaineers still pick the herbs for the Bordiga distillery. They know the intricacies of the seasons and terrain and hike to over 10,000 feet to pick each botanical at the time when the essential oils are the highest, resulting in the most flavorful infusions. While most of the botanicals used by Bordiga are handpicked in the Occitan Alps, not all botanicals are locally foraged. Some do not grow in Italy such as rabarbaro (Chinese rhubarb root), an important and traditional ingredient that was introduced to Italy through the spice trade and came through the local port of Genoa.

Bordiga does all their own botanical infusions and each botanical is infused separately. This is an important marker of quality - each botanical benefits from being macerated in alcohol at different degrees and for different lengths of time - and changes depending on the characteristics of each year’s crop. Some herbs are infused fresh and some dry. The resulting infusions are kept in a cellar under the distillery which includes an impressive library of botanical infusions that are used in varying quantities throughout their range of products.

We find the Bordiga products to be entirely traditional while also fitting squarely into the modern cocktail culture. Vermouth is still a standout in their lineup, and over the years they expanded into other traditional Italian spirits like gin, apertivi and amari. The products have an affinity for each other as you might expect - a Bordiga Negroni or Bordiga Last Word, for example, represent a synchronicity quite different from versions composed of spirits from different producers. 

*‘Occitan’ is a language that originated in the Languedoc region of southwest France, and is still spoken in some of the isolated mountain valleys to the west of Cuneo, on the border with Provence.