Juniper
Tuscan artisan Honey
Tuscan gluten-free artisan Cantucci
Almonds
Vanilla
Sultanas
Orange peel
Dried apricot
Orange blossom
Vin santo
Sea water
‘Ginsanto e cantucci’ is a gin made from a single cold maceration of all ingredients except the vin santo and seawater.
We start with a base of 96% pure Italian grain alcohol, to which the alcohol content is reduced to 50% vol. by adding spring water. The botanicals added to this hydro-alcoholic solution will retain their organoleptic properties to the full, thanks to the reduced alcohol content.
Our gin is an unfiltered product, so it undergoes a slow natural decanting process.
The product achieves its final strength of 40% vol. through the addition of spring water and pure Tuscan artisanal vin santo. Depending on the year of production of vin santo, it will give the gin a different flavour – in these first batches a 2010 vin santo was used.
Finally, the addition of a small amount of seawater gives sapidity to the product, creating a beautiful contrast with the sweet notes of honey and vanilla.
This gin is made by hand in the most natural way possible, without the use of stills, machinery or filters, artificial flavourings and colourings.
The combination of cantucci and vin santo immediately releases an ancient, sweet flavour.
This recipe history intertwines with numerous tales, closer to legends than to chronicle.
The history of the cantuccio finds its first authoritative reference point in the dictionary of the Accademia della Crusca in 1691.
The basic ingredients of these oblong-shaped biscuits were: fior di farina – the whitest and finest flour – sugar and egg white.
Simplicity made sweet.
The name cantuccio results from the peculiar cut of the hot loaf, diagonally sliced as a ‘canto’ (corner) or ‘cantellus’ (piece of bread). Some recipe variants included almonds, but just in the 19th century Antonio Mattei, a confectioner from Prato, defined the universally recognised recipe, with the addition of almonds and pine nuts.
The history of vin santo is more contradictory and more romantic.
One Florentine version traces the origin of the name back to an exclamation by Giovanni Bessarione, a Greek archbishop who during the Council of Florence in 1439 tasted a vin pretto and said:
‘This is the wine of Xantos!’
He was referring to a Greek raisin wine, but the diners understood ‘Santo’ and from then on the local vin pretto became vin santo.
Vin santo, with its unmistakable flavour, is made from Trebbiano toscano, Malvasia bianca, Passerina and Grechetto grapes.
We intend to create sustainable and inclusive products and at the same time to spread a new concept in the spirits industry.
Our gins are made from fresh, responsibly selected raw materials respecting their seasonality and natural life cycle. We have selected local and Italian ingredients expertly infused using the cold compound technique while respecting the organoleptic properties of all raw materials. The 100% gluten-free ingredients in our recipes allowed us to create an inclusive and accessible gin.
Our products bring about a new paradigm to the world of spirits: imperfections make our bottles special. We have chosen to use up to 100% post-consumer recycled (PCR) glassbottles and 100% cotton labels, creating totally plastic-free products.
A small-batch production allows us to label and number each bottle by hand, in a perspective of environmental and economic sustainability.
Bottle: Estal bobber jr – with 60% to 80% recycled glass content
Label: Unilabel Cotton Extra White – 100% cotton
Caps: crown cap + cork
