Amaretto Day in Melbourne

Sweet, sour, fluffy and delicious: the Amaretto Sour is one cocktail that’s stood the test of time since it was first popularised in the seventies. But the history of Disaronno – the liqueur at the core of any great Amaretto Sour – goes back much further.

Disaronno’s origin story dates all the way back to the 1500s, when a Saronno church commissioned the artist Bernardino Luini to paint a fresco of the Madonna. He found inspiration in a young, widowed innkeeper, who made a delicious liqueur from a secret recipe of herbs and fruits steeped in apricot kernel oil. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Wednesday April 19 marks Amaretto Day, where cocktail enthusiasts around the world band together to pay tribute to this classic liqueur. To celebrate this year, Disaronno has teamed up with some of Melbourne’s top bars and restaurants who’ll each serve up their own limited-edition Disaronno-inspired cocktails, as well as their take on the Amaretto Sour, starting on Amaretto Day.

In the CBD, head to iconic rooftop terrace bar Siglo or hidden gem La La Land to taste their creative interpretations of the historic cocktail. In Southbank, head to penthouse lounge Cloakroom. And if you’re southside, check out Blacksmith and Maeve Fox in Richmond; the cosy, library-themed Katuk in South Yarra; and Holy Grail and Curious in Melbourne.

All you need to do? Just rock up to any of these venues and ask for an Amaretto Sour or Disaronno cocktail special. Cin cin!

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Disaronno.