Stuzzi launches ‘definitive’ Negroni gin
Yorkshire-based Italian restaurant Stuzzi will debut its first ever spirit this month, named Stuzzi Per Negroni Gin.
Stuzzi Per Negroni Gin has been created in partnership with acclaimed Leeds-based distillery Hedonist to celebrate and enhance the classic cocktail, whilst remaining authentic to the serve’s Italian roots. The idea for the 40% ABV gin came during lockdown when Stuzzi’s two restaurants in Leeds and Harrogate were both closed. Jimbob Phillips, co-founder and director of Stuzzi, said: “While sipping lockdown Negroni after lockdown Negroni, we started thinking about how we could perfect this ruby red nectar, and the idea for the first Stuzzi gin was born.” The gin has been distilled with a medley of botanicals to create the ‘definitive’ Negroni, including candied Sicilian orange, bergamot, lavender and cinnamon, before being cut with Yorkshire water. “Our gin lifts the Negroni, rather than working against it,” Phillips continued. “A Negroni made with Stuzzi Gin isn’t a twist on a classic, it’s turning the volume up. It almost softens the initial bitter punch, making a dangerously drinkable cocktail with layers of flavour. It’s our best interpretation of the classic. And we think it’s a game changer for Negroni lovers. A bitter, sweet, symphony”. Nick Harvey, co-founder and director of Stuzzi, added: “Stuzzi Gin was created with both bartenders and Negroni lovers in mind. Our aim is to elevate every Negroni and make it the go-to gin for the serve. "Stuzzi Per Negroni is the perfect combination of the glamorous Italian Sprezzatura with inherent Yorkshire honesty. We enlisted the help of Hedonist Drinks, long time friends of the Stuzzi family, celebrated and award-winning bartenders with a distillery just down the road, they were the perfect partner to join us on our mission – we needed this to be a gin that was made in a bar, not in a boardroom." Stuzzi Per Negroni is now available for the on and off-trade, priced at £39.50 (US$47.92) per 700ml bottle. In other Negroni news, last month Campari revamped its pre-mix Negroni with a new bottle design.
