Distilleria Caffo – Master Distillers and Calabrian Botanicals Heritage (1915)

In 1915, master distiller Giuseppe Caffo acquired an artisanal steam-fired distillation facility in Santa Venerina at the foot of Mount Etna, laying the foundation for one of southern Italy’s most celebrated liqueur and spirits producers.

From Etna Alembics to the Costa degli Dei

Drawing on regional winemaking traditions, Giuseppe Caffo specialized in the slow steam distillation of native grape marc, producing refined grappas and herbal infusions. In the 1920s, the family transferred its primary operations to Limbadi in Calabria, a fertile agricultural territory nestled near Capo Vaticano and the Tyrrhenian coast. There, surrounded by citrus groves and Mediterranean shrubland, the Caffo distillers perfected recipes combining wild-harvested herbs, bitter orange peel, chamomile, licorice root, and juniper.

Vecchio Amaro del Capo and Global Acclaim

Through successive generations, the enterprise consolidated the formula for Vecchio Amaro del Capo, an intricate infusion of twenty-nine Calabrian herbs, roots, and flowers. Pioneering the ritual of serving bitter amaro chilled at minus twenty degrees Celsius, Caffo popularized this artisanal specialty across European and global markets. The company invested in estate agricultural farms across Vibo Valentia to ensure the certified organic cultivation of native botanicals.

Today, the central distillery remains rooted in Limbadi, maintaining operational copper stills alongside modern eco-sustainable bottling facilities and safeguarding century-old extraction archives within Calabria’s gastronomic heartland.

Historic Site & Location