Averna

Averna is an amaro created in 1868 by Salvatore Averna in Caltanissetta, Sicily, using a recipe given to him nine years earlier by a monk at a local abbey. The Averna family ran the business for well over a century before Campari acquired it in 2014, and in 2026 it passed again, this time to Illva Saronno, the group behind Disaronno. Sicilian production has stayed with the brand throughout, rather than being folded into a bigger liqueur line.

The bittersweet character comes from a maceration of herbs, roots, and spices, rounded out with pomegranate and the essential oils of bitter orange and lemon, before caramel is added for colour and body. At 29% ABV it sits at the gentler end of the category, traditionally poured neat or over ice after a meal, though it also suits cocktails calling for something dark and herbal. It remains one of the best known names in herbal liqueur.