Ingredients
A Piedmontese maceration of roots, barks and citrus in neutral spirit, built around gentian and rhubarb with a moderate hand on sugar.
- ✦Gentian root
- ✦Rhubarb root
- ✦Bitter orange peel
- ✦Wormwood
- ✦Cinchona bark
- ✦Cardamom
- ✦Cinnamon
- ✦Alpine herbs
History of the Brand
Antica Distilleria Quaglia has worked in the Monferrato hills since 1890, making grappa, liqueurs and vermouth for generations of Piedmontese families.
Amaro Bèrto is one of the house's modern bar-driven releases, named in the affectionate local diminutive and created for bartenders who wanted a Piedmont amaro with root bitterness but a lighter sugar load.
It arrived in the US during the amaro boom of the 2010s and found a following as a mixing bottle — bitter enough to hold a stirred drink together, mild enough not to dominate it.
Production stays small and traditional: maceration by batch, no shortcuts on the botanical bill, and a label that stays deliberately plain.
Tasting Characteristics
Dried orange peel, gentian earth and a whisper of cocoa.
Medium-bodied and only lightly sweet. Rhubarb and gentian lead, with cinnamon and bitter orange giving lift through the middle.
Clean and drying, the bitterness settling rather than spiking.
Flavor meter
How to serve it
- 01Neat, lightly chilled, in a small tumbler after dinner.
- 02On a large rock with orange peel.
- 03Swapped for Campari in a Negroni for a softer, rootier build.
- 04Split with sweet vermouth in a Black Manhattan.
Where to Get It
Available through specialist importers in the US and northern Europe, and across Piedmont at home.
Craft bottle shops
Shelved with the mixing amari, typically $30–$40.
Online spirits retailers
Search 'Amaro Berto Quaglia'.
In Piedmont
The Quaglia distillery near Asti sells the full range.
Affiliate buying links coming soon.
Amaro Bèrto FAQ
Who makes Amaro Bèrto?
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Antica Distilleria Quaglia, a family distillery working in the Monferrato hills of Piedmont since 1890.
What does Amaro Bèrto taste like?
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Gentian and rhubarb root bitterness with dried orange peel and gentle spice, and less sugar than most classic amari.
Is it good in cocktails?
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Very. Its restrained sweetness makes it a reliable substitute for Campari or a partner to sweet vermouth in stirred drinks.
How strong is it?
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Around 24.5% ABV.