Drink of the Week: Luxardo Canned Cocktails

When I visited the Luxardo distillery in Torreglia, Italy a few years ago, one of the realizations I walked away with was how the family-run business does not rest on its laurels. Despite having made a name for themselves worldwide with the iconic maraschino liqueur (which I wrote about in detail earlier this summer), they are still working to push boundaries today by finding ways to stay relevant without losing the essence of what makes them so special. After 200 years of production, they haven’t skipped a beat, with new products that cater to modern tastes like the Sour Cherry Gin turning heads on both sides of the Atlantic.

The latest to hit the States taps into the popular canned cocktail movement that is afoot, presented in true Italian fashion. The new line includes an Aperitivo Spritz, Bianco Spritz, and Sour Cherry Gin & Tonic—all three made with Luxardo’s respective products as the base and lengthened with either sparkling water or tonic. With a perfect balance of bitter to sweet, each one stands on its own merits, but for me the Bianco Spritz offers something I haven’t found in other canned cocktails. Light, dry, and perfectly fizzy, the botanicals of the Bianco liqueur shine with a sunny grapefruit quality and threads of light, herbaceous bitterness. It tastes perfectly good straight from the can, but to make an occasion out of it, I grabbed my favorite spritz glass, sliced a wheel of grapefruit, and plopped in a few ice cubes. A taste of summer in Italy. 4-packs are sold at Whole Foods and Total Wine locations.