Bigallet China-China Liqueur 750ml

Bigallet has been distilling alpine syrups and liqueurs since 1872, when Félix Bigallet started the company in Lyon before the family later relocated to Virieu-sur-Bourbre, in the foothills of the Isère region. In 1875, Félix and his brother Louis developed the recipe for China-China, an orange based bitter liqueur that took its name from the French term for cinchona bark, "quina quina," reflecting the importance of that ingredient in the formula. The liqueur has long served as a close substitute for the elusive Amer Picon, and today Bigallet operates under the ownership of the Giffard family while continuing to follow the original nineteenth century recipe.

China-China begins with sweet Valencia oranges and bitter oranges historically sourced from Curaçao, whose peels are macerated and distilled up to three times in small copper alembic stills to produce an intensely aromatic orange distillate. This is blended with a mix of botanicals including gentian root, cinchona bark, anise, clove, and other alpine herbs and spices kept secret by the distillery. Caramel is added at the end both to deepen the color and to balance the liqueur's natural bitterness, rounding out a formula built on a beet based neutral spirit.

The color is a deep, almost opaque brown with ruby red highlights. The nose offers bitter orange peel and marmalade alongside dried fruit and licorice. On the palate, that same bitter orange carries through with assertive cardamom, black pepper, and cinnamon spice, finishing long with lingering citrus zest and warm spice. It works well as a substitute for Italian amari in classic cocktails such as the Negroni or Old Fashioned.