Italian legends say that on “la notte di San Giovanni,” (the day before the summer solstice), you can see the future. It’s also the night, the same legends say, when barefoot witches dance around walnut trees, performing rituals and gathering unripe green walnuts barehanded, to avoid draining the nut’s mystical energy. They use the walnuts to prepare a potent potion that aims to deliver health and wealth to drinkers. That potion is nocino, the lush liqueur beloved in Italy and, more recently, in the Northwest.
It could be that nocino was originally brought south by rampaging Romans, who got it from Celtic or Pict tribes. But today’s migration is driven not by witches taking a broom trip west, but by inspired local distillers. While it doesn’t have the spotlight of amaro — nocino’s Italian sibling — the list of nocino producers past and present is robust, including distilleries such as Ampersand, Highside, Letterpress, New Deal, Resurrection, Roots and Wings, Scratch, Sidetrack, Skip Rock, Stone Barn Brandyworks, and The Woods Spirit Co.
IDEAL FOR THE NORTHWEST CLIMATE
But let’s crack open what nocino actually is. Historically, it’s a liqueur made from those unripe green walnuts infused in a base spirit, with a sweetening agent added post-infusion. Spices tend to be brought to the party too, ranging from cinnamon to citrus, vanilla to coffee. The result is rich, complex and yummy. It is a drink that boasts, as Scratch Distillery’s Kim Karrick said of their WAcino, a “warm, toasty flavor profile” — one that’s ideal for the Northwest climate.
Nocino is dandy solo but pairs well in cocktails, as Skip Rock Distillery’s Ryan Hembree says, with “just about any brown spirit.”
It makes scrumptious sense that our territory lends itself to the nutty liqueur. Northwest distillers are always ready to use locally grown products, and walnut trees abound in forests, farms and backyards. Hembree made his first nocino when his wife asked him to “do something with the two big walnut trees in our backyard.”
As British Columbia’s Roots and Wings Distillery’s Rebekah Crowley says, the region’s “emphasis on quality and sustainability can extend to the production of nocino by using fresh seasonal ingredients alongside traditional methods.” Even as influence of place and a goal of superb sipping is shared, don’t be fooled into believing every distiller fashions nocino the same. They’re far too imaginative. When sampling bottles, you’ll uncap a vast range of recipes.
Highside, for example, infuses Bainbridge Island green walnuts in a house-made apple eau-de-vie brandy base, whereas Stone Barn Brandyworks goes with a rye and Pinot Noir brandy combo. Ampersand sweetens with local honey, adding lemon peel, cinnamon and allspice; Crowley’s Roots and Wings aims for a Christmas feel via cinnamon and cloves. Skip Rock’s Hembree started with six recipes, narrowing down to a perfect “spice, nut, sweet, citrus and a bit bitter” version. And Karrick at Scratch bucks tradition, using mature black walnuts and a wheat-based spirit previously aged in used barrels from six to 24 months then adding “just enough” house-made coffee bean simple syrup.
Each nocino in some tone or nuance harkens back to that ancestral version Italian witches might have made. But the takes on the classic formula equal singular drinking experiences, which is a boon for consumers looking to try it. (Visiting local distilleries where each nocino version is made is the perfect way to sample.) So if you haven’t gotten nutty with nocino, I’ll make a prediction, even though I’m not a witch. Give locally made nocino a sip, and your future will be tasty indeed.
FOUR NORTHWEST NOCINI TO TRY
Not sure where to start nocino-ing? Try each nocino neat, first — then over ice with a twist. Orange is nice, but let instinct be your guide. Next, climb into nocino cocktails and highballs with these cocktails below.
Scratch WAcino
Lighter colored than most due to using mature walnuts, Scratch WAcino delivers an almost pastry-like nuttiness on the tongue. With cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and coffee accents rounding out the rich buttery walnut notes, it’s beautiful all on its own — even making a swell accompaniment to brunch. It’s also excellent in this smooth cocktail.
Death By Walnuts
INGREDIENTS
1 ounce Scratch WAcino
1 ounce Scratch Wheat Vodka
1 ounce coconut or almond milk
¾ ounce French press coffee simple syrup (make like regular simple syrup, subbing coffee for water)
GARNISH
A pinch of coffee grounds
DIRECTIONS
Shake all the ingredients over ice cubes. Strain into an Old Fashioned or comparable glass.
SKIP ROCK NOCINO
With a taste any Italian grandmother would adore, Skip Rock Nocino was one of the first local nocino offerings. In fact, it won Sip Magazine’s “Best Emerging Spirit” award in 2013. Unveiling a lovely nutmeg, toffee, vanilla fragrance, the taste unfolds more spice, a little sweetness, chocolate and an orange hint that will have you dreaming of whiskey pairings. Get archetypal with it here.
Walnut Old Fashioned
INGREDIENTS
2 ounces Skip Rock Rye
¼ ounce Skip Rock Nocino
Sugar cube
2 dashes Scrappy’s Orange Bitters
GARNISH
Wide orange peel
DIRECTIONS
Place a sugar cube in an Old Fashioned glass, add orange bitters and a few drops of water. Muddle until sugar dissolves. Add rye and nocino. Stir. Add a large ice cube, stir a bit more, then garnish.
ROOTS AND WINGS NOCINO
Distiller Rebekah Crowley says Roots and Wings Nocino was made with love. She should know, as she picked each walnut by hand. That affection shows in the fetching farmyard-with-a-walnut-grove essence, accented by winter holiday spices in a manner that would make any grinch grin. It composes a “nuttily refreshing drink mixed with Bear ’n Beaver Creme Soda,” says Crowley, and provides walnutty umph in this.
The Plot Begins
INGREDIENTS
2 ounces rye whiskey
¾ ounce Roots and Wings Nocino
½ ounce Sons of Vancouver No. 82 Amaretto
2 dashes Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters
1 dash Scrappy’s Orange Bitters
GARNISH
Wide orange twist
DIRECTIONS
Add a large ice cube to an Old Fashioned glass. Stir ingredients over cracked ice. Strain into glass.
STONE BARN BRANDYWORKS NOCINO
Made from Portland walnuts, a base of rye and Pinot Noir brandy, and a range of spices and seasonings, Stone Barn Brandyworks Nocino possesses a layered flavor that, when sipped, echoes walking after dinner in a late-October orchard: nutty, fruity, dessert-y. Its complexity shines in a classic Manhattan. Substitute straight for sweet vermouth, or try this version from bartender Jennifer DiNocenzo.
Nutty Manhattan
INGREDIENTS
1¼ ounces rye (James Oliver is suggested)
¾ ounce Stone Barn Brandyworks Nocino
½ ounce Frangelico
½ ounce sweet vermouth
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
GARNISH
Cherry
DIRECTIONS
Stir all but the cherry over cracked ice. Strain into a cocktail glass — chilled, if possible.
