Gucci Ventures Into Mixology With Branded Cocktail
An esteemed Italian bartender who’s been working at London’s hip Connaught Bar as assistant director of mixology for eight years, Bargiani created a signature blend that is all about evoking personal memories, revering the Tuscan region and telegraphing the values embedded in Gucci’s 100-year-plus history.
“Personality makes each cocktail unique, I’m always looking for something that makes customers remember the cocktails and especially the moments linked to it,” Bargiani said unveiling Elisir d’Elicriso at the cafè on Piazza della Signoria Thursday.
Coming in a finely chiseled glass bottle that’s reminiscent of fragrance flacons, the peach pink-hued liquor is a complex yet balanced mix of several ingredients, some unexpected.
Bargiani went through 15 tastings over seven months to find the perfect blend. Based on Vermouth and its citrusy and herbaceous notes, further exalted by the Vetiver and N.4 Podere Santa Bianca liquors, the cocktail is capped off with drops of London Dry Gin, white vinegar, red wine from Tenuta San Guido, as well as helichrysum essential oil.
The latter, Bargiani said, “smells like home, like Pisa [his hometown], the sea and Mediterranean scrub.”
He suggested tasting it in four different ways, as is, with the addition of ice, with a dash of sparkling wine, or adding soda or tonic water for a long drink iteration.