When I profiled Forthave Spirits for this magazine early last year, they’d only been in business for about a month: “This DIY punk approach to spirits has resulted, so far, in three very polished bottles: ‘Red,’ an aperitivo; ‘Blue,’ an American dry gin; and ‘Marseille,’ an amaro. The link between each is a focus on botanicals, but it was the amaro that inspired the former film and TV producer to start distilling three years ago. The full launch just happened in January of this year.”
Since then, their gorgeous bottles of amaro, aperitivo and gin have been appearing on more and more bar and shop shelves around Brooklyn, and they’ve recently come out with a very special collaboration with Andrew Tarlow and Heather Cahill of Marlow & Sons, Diner and a bunch of other restaurants you know and love. Creating the Marlo amaro now being poured at these spots was a months-long process of tasting and aging, one that can’t be replicated. Forthave’s Daniel de la Nuez and Aaron Sing Fox didn’t write down the recipe, making it even more special.
The light, compelling amaro is the perfect digestif to have with cheese at the end of your Marlow & Sons meal, or could even work with something heavier, like their classic chocolate tart. Make sure to get a good look at the illustration on the label, done by Tarlow, which features eyes atop each finger of a hand. It fits in beautifully with the rest of the Forthave line, proving the aesthetics of these Brooklyn brands—one older, one basically brand-new—are as complementary as the organic botanicals inside the bottle.
