A small liquor tailoring shop in the heart of Olbia (SS) with the aim of offering a quality service and a unique shopping experience: this is what the bartender had in mind in 2017 Emilio Rocchino when he gave birth to Spirits Boutique, a welcoming place where customers could learn about and purchase excellent quality products, given the selection of spirits and liqueurs from all over the world.
Emilio Rocchino, born in 1982, trained as a bartender in the best hotels in Milan, from Gaul to the Prince of Savoy until theArmani Nobu. In the meantime, in the mid-2000s, he worked in Porto Rotondo, an area of Sardinia where it was possible to mix products that were not widely available in the rest of the region, such as Mezcal, Tequila, Charanda and some types of agricole rum.
Spirits Boutique and its mixology proposal
The evolution of Spirits Boutique from liquor store The cocktail bar was opened in 2018, due to Emilio's need to return to being a bartender and introduce the art of mixing to the Sardinians: «The Sardinian is not used to drinking mixed drinks – he tells us Francesco Cuccuru, bar manager of Spirits Boutique Olbia – Over the years we have done a great job and at the moment we do not want to be innovators. If people are not used to drinking a well-made Americano, we will never get to what mixology is churning out today».
The venue today, located in the central Piazza Matteotti in Olbia, presents itself as a classy cocktail bar, with contemporary furnishings reminiscent of the Art Nouveau style and a North American bar counter display.
The first room, just after crossing the threshold of the Spirits Boutique and where the bar counter is located, is dedicated to liquor store, in which it is present a wide and varied selection of national and international products.
In the adjacent room, in addition to sipping drinks and enjoying dishes with an international flavour, it is possible to view Exhibitions of art which change once a month and offer the sale of works by local artists, with the aim of supporting the city's artistic and cultural apparatus.
As regards the mixology proposal, Spirits Boutique focuses his work on twist on classic not elaborate and linked to the great classics also proposed on the first page of the drink list, almost as if to reassure and make the customer understand «that he can drink everything, from Negroni to Martini, from Garibaldi to Daiquiri» continues Francesco.
«We offer 14 alcoholic drinks and 4 non-alcoholic drinks: each cocktail has a personality behind it – Emilio tells us – such as the Pecorino Negroni – a Negroni with a very strong and savoury pecorino air – is represented in the drink list by the Count Negroni with Benito Urgu, a singer-songwriter from Oristano, or like the Rose – with Big Gino Exotic, Blood Bitter, peach puree, grapefruit, lemon, sugar and Malidea Juniper bitter – which represents Rose Garibaldi, the daughter of Giuseppe Garibaldi».
Among the most requested also stand out the Twist 'N Shout, in honor of the Beatles, featuring Stolychnaia Vodka, lemon, honey, Quail Ginger Liqueur and Organics Tonic infused with basil, theSplendor, dedicated to Frida Kahlo with Bitter Campari, Bitter Aperol, orange, lime and passion fruit.
But what is certainly striking about this drink list is the Mystery Box, in which a plane ticket for two people is offered with some questions inside about where you would like to go and the type of flavor you prefer between citrus, fresh and sweet or bitter to have a cocktail tailor-made and unique.
Spirits Boutique is also located at Cagliari, a few steps from the Bastion of Saint Remy, in the heart of the Marina district, born from Emilio's curiosity to see the response of a big city and with a tourism that is taking off over the years.
Mediterranean Maquis: between Sardinian Vermouth and Gin
But even before the birth of Spirits Boutique, Emilio created in 2014 Stain Mediterranean, with the intention of studying the Sardinian territory in depth and creating products characterised by endemic Sardinian botanicals.
Among the products we find three types of Vermouth: The Red with Myrtle, very identifying and that It is born from a base of Sardinian Moscato (dry vinified white Moscato) with Piedmontese Cortese, 15 aromatic plants and myrtle as the real protagonist.
We then move on to the White Vermouth, aromatic, floral and pleasant based on Vermentino of Gallura, the only DOCG in Sardinia: «inside there is a native citrus fruit which is the pump, as well as Slow Food Presidium – says Rocchino -, in addition to myrtle with more leaves and less berries. Finally we propose the Dry Vermouth where Vernaccia di Oristano is used flower like Sherry: oxidized and with floral hints."
Macchia's production also includes the Traditional Red Bitter, with intense and harmonious notes of strawberry tree, artichoke and helichrysum, and the Wild Macchia Gin, born from the distillation of island juniper berries common And cuddly and characterized by resinous olfactory notes, light floral hints and myrtle leaves.
Finally, we at MT Magazine asked our ritual question to Emilio Rocchino on what his favorite cocktail and spirit were: «I prefer gin as a distillate and I really like Gin and Tonic, even if for an aperitif I prefer to sip an Americano and after dinner an excellent Old Fashioned».
