Notes: Boasting 100% natural ingredients ( a rare thing these days sadly) and a low ABV ( which is I understand popular in some circles these days). The Starlino Hotel line is a newcomer to the United States but the distillery has been in business since 1906. The Vergano family distillery, Torino Distillati is in Piedmonte, in North-Eastern Italy. The Master Distiller and Wine Maker Beppe Ronco and Denis Mui are the Alchemists of these products.

The Rosé is a charming blend of Rosé wine, spirit, pink grapefruit peel, orange peel, Roman and wormwood, coriander, and 8 other botanicals; elderflower, cloves, hyssop, orris, centaury, savory and dittany, amongst others, to form a subtle but lovely mix. It is carefully infused, blended then left to marry and blend in stainless steel for 6 months.

Appearance: Clear with a charming blush of pink – not so much a Rosé blush as a pink grapefruit color. Slightly oily coat on swirling quickly receding and leaving a few small droplets behind. This must have been a difficult task to accomplish with so many different elements in the blending, Well Done!

First Impression: Lovely wisps of pink grapefruit aroma, with hints of orange and lemon backed with a pleasantly astringent herbal character to give balance and structure.

Taste: Delicious! A bit of a treat for me. Reminds me of some delicious candied grapefruit slices with a wonderful backbone of acidity and herbality to provide a structure to the sweetness

Drinks: Great on its own chilled ( and as a side note you should refrigerate after opening anyway), it makes for a lovely low alcohol spritzer if you use 1 part Starlino to sparkling water or seltzer, or same ratios with sparkling wine as an aperitif. Also highly recommend with Tequila in a variation of a Paloma, or add a shot of tequila to your aperitif. Also an interesting ingredient for a whiskey sour or old fashioned variation, working will with many ingredients as it has the structure and subtlety to mix with other ingredients and brings a lot of elements of its own.
I think this Aperitivo has the makings for a great cocktail ingredient!

Its well-structured balance of flavors lends itself well to a host of potential new cocktail creations. Also as a new product, you will not be disappointed to find your ‘new’ cocktail was invented in 1928 somewhere, it will be yours to name and a possible claim to fame.

Bottle: They went all out on these bottles. The style of design for these is known in Italy as Stile Liberty, think similar to French  Belle Epoch in some ways. Beautiful lightly frosted, heavy apothecary style. Embossed with Torino, Italy, fluid levels, and with a shortish neck with a good lip, so easy to grip. The bottle ergonomics are both attractive and practical. The labels are full of meanings and references in its manty elements including elevator and room references, desk bell, barrels, and all manner of embellishments.  The back label is meant to resemble a ‘Do Not Disturb’ door hanger,

Other: They make a outstanding vermouth and maraschino cherries also.

Final Thoughts: Beats St Germain Hands down!

Website: www.TheStarlino.com

Extremely colorful yet fast loading pages. A fair amount of information, useful recipes and beautiful photography and layout.