The Flavour Index: Amari Edition

Design & Words By: Reece Sims

Bitter, herbal, sweet—amaro (plural amari) is one of the most diverse and misunderstood spirits categories behind the bar. Born in Italy and now made worldwide, these botanical liqueurs range from bright and citrusy to bold and bracing. This guide maps out their flavour profiles, ABV, and cocktail potential, using well-known benchmarks like Campari, Aperol, and Fernet Branca to help decode the rest. Whether you’re a cocktail enthusiast or curious newcomer, the Amari Index offers a starting point to explore, compare, and use these complex bottles with more confidence one flavour profile at a time.

Mapping the Bitter Spectrum

This chart is your launchpad for understanding amari. We’ve selected a dozen bottles and created a simple visual to help compare profiles at a glance. Think of it as a flavour compass—start with what you know, then explore what falls nearby. On the following pages, we dive deeper into each bottle’s unique character. This guide is meant to help you swap with confidence, build balanced cocktails, and find your new favourite pour.

1) Aperol

Aperol was born in 1919 in Padua, Italy, but it didn’t hit global fame until the rise of the Spritz made it a backyard staple and brunch essential. Lower in alcohol than most Aperitivi, it was designed for daytime drinking with a bright, approachable, and easy to mix demeanour. While the Spritz made it iconic, bartenders know its versatility runs deeper. It softens bitter edges in a Paper Plane, adds citrus lift to low-ABV cocktails, and plays surprisingly well with agave. Aperol isn’t just the gateway to Aperitivo culture, it’s the reason it stuck.

2) Cynar

Cynar was launched in 1952 with a bold move: putting an artichoke on the label. But don’t be fooled by the vegetable branding. This amaro became a bartender favourite not for shock value, but for its uncanny ability to bridge sweet, bitter, and herbal in one pour. Low enough in alcohol for Aperitivo hour, deep enough for a stirred-down nightcap, Cynar is a shape-shifter. It adds complexity to Negroni riffs, richness to Spritzes, and depth to unexpected places. Try it with bourbon and be converted.

3) Select Aperitivo

Select Aperitivo doesn’t just come from Venice, it tastes like it. Created in 1920 and long overshadowed by its louder cousins, Select is finally having its moment. Richer than Aperol and less bracing than Campari, it hits the sweet spot for a more balanced Spritz. The secret weapon? A blend of 30 botanicals, including rhubarb and juniper, that give it both lift and structure. In Venice, the classic serve includes a green olive and it works; Select delivers elegance with an edge.

4) Esquimalt Bitter Red

Esquimalt Bitter Red is Canada’s answer to the Americano category—not the cocktail, the class of bitter Aperitivi. Made on Vancouver Island by a vermouth-obsessed duo, it uses gentian, Seville orange, cascarilla bark, and local Balsam poplar buds to create something bold, aromatic, and smooth. Richer than Campari but far less punishing, it’s built for Spritzes, Negronis, and low-ABV sipping. This isn’t a copy, rather, it’s a west coast rethink of Italian tradition, and a strong case for terroir in your Aperitivi.

5) Amaro Montenegro

Amaro Montenegro has been a staple since 1885, offering a softer, more approachable take on bitter liqueurs. Made in Bologna from a secret blend of 40 botanicals, it layers orange peel, vanilla, spice, and florals into a profile that’s aromatic, lightly bitter, and easy to mix. Montenegro plays well in cocktails. It’s subtle enough to blend, complex enough to stand out. It’s often the first amaro someone falls for, and with good reason. Balanced, versatile, and quietly essential behind the bar.

6) BASBAS

BASBAS is an outlier in the bitter world. As the only premium hierbas in the world, this Ibiza, Spain-produced product is aromatic, herbaceous, and distinctly lighter than your typical amaro. Anise, fennel, rosemary, and citrus peel lead the charge, with sweetness and freshness taking priority over depth and darkness. There’s no heavy bitterness or syrupy weight, just a clean, bright profile that holds up in long drinks or over ice. It’s not trying to be a classic amaro or an imitation; it’s a confident alternative.

7) Campari

Few bottles have shaped cocktail culture like Campari. Created in 1860, its vivid red hue and unmistakable bitterness made it a cornerstone of Italian aperitivo. Built around bitter orange, rhubarb, and secret herbs, it’s unapologetically bold—meant to stand its ground in a Negroni, Boulevardier, or Spritz. There’s no softness here, and that’s the point. Campari is the benchmark against which all other red bitters are measured. Love it or learn to, it’s a rite of passage on the bartender’s shelf.

8) Dillon’s Black Walnut Amaro

Dillon’s Black Walnut Amaro sits somewhere between a classic amaro and a Canadian nod to nocino. Rich, nutty, and spiced like a fall pantry, it brings toasted walnut, baking spice, and a touch of dark maple to the table. It’s softer than most Italian amaros, with a woodsy depth that leans dessert-worthy. Sip it neat by the fire or use it to add texture to stirred whiskey cocktails. Less about bitterness, more about mood—it’s Ontario’s answer to the alpine liqueur.

9) Amaro Averna

Averna is the amaro that plays well with others. With its smooth texture and rounded profile, it’s a natural sub for vermouth when you want to deepen a Manhattan or Boulevardier without overwhelming it. In low-ABV cocktails, it adds body and a gentle backbone, while still keeping things approachable. Bartenders often reach for Averna when Fernet is too much and Campari is too sharp. It’s steady, smooth, and always ready to round things out.

10) Fernet-Branca

There’s no easing into Fernet-Branca—you’re either in or you’re not. Launched in Milan in 1845, this bracing, minty, menthol-heavy amaro became a bartender cult favourite thanks to its no-nonsense bitterness and stomach-settling swagger. Saffron, myrrh, and over two dozen botanicals create a medicinal, polarizing profile that’s more rite than refreshment. Sipped neat, slammed as a shot, stirred into a Toronto, or served with cola, Fernet isn’t trying to charm you. It’s daring you to keep up.

11) Liquore Strega

Strega means “witch” in Italian, and this saffron-hued herbal liqueur certainly casts a spell. First produced in Benevento in 1860, it’s built from 70 botanicals, with dominant notes of mint, fennel, juniper, and the unmistakable golden warmth of saffron. Sweeter than most amaro, yet more herbal than your typical liqueur, Strega lives somewhere between chartreuse and absinthe on the flavour map. It’s a historic bottle that doesn’t get enough play. Aromatic, layered, and surprisingly versatile, try it in cocktails that lean savoury or stirred.

12) Bigallet China-China

Bigallet China-China walks the line between bitter and indulgent, but make no mistake, this French classic leans sweet. Built around bitter Curaçao and sweet Valencia oranges, its base maceration is double-distilled in traditional alembic copper stills, then blended with a carefully curated mix of botanicals—gentian root, cinchona bark, clove, anise, and a handful of secret herbs and spices. The result is a bitter liqueur that tastes like burnt sugar meets marmalade in a velvet smoking jacket. Less brooding than your average amaro, more decadent than your average orange liqueur, it’s a multifaceted must-have behind the bar.

Final Note: Amari Cocktails To Try

Twelve cocktails, five ingredients or less—each featuring one of the amari in this guide. Use them to build confidence and see how each bottle behaves in a glass.