Centerba 72 Toro
Centerba 72 Toro is Abruzzo's legendary 140-proof herbal digestivo — a blazing emerald-green liqueur made from some 200 wild herbs hand-picked on the slopes of the Maiella mountains, macerated by the Toro family since 1817. Bottled at 70% ABV (140 proof) in a 750mL bottle, it is the oldest digestivo in Abruzzo and one of the strongest herbal liqueurs in Italy: medicinal, minty, and unapologetically intense. It is available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor, San Diego, CA.
- ABV: 70% (140 proof)
- Size: 750mL
- Style: high-proof herbal digestivo liqueur
- Origin: Tocco da Casauria, Abruzzo, Italy — Enrico Toro, since 1817
- Production: ~200 wild mountain herbs, slow natural infusion, no added flavors
Two Centuries of Mountain Medicine
The story starts with Beniamino Toro, a pharmacist who moved to Tocco da Casauria in the early 1800s and commercialized a local herbal elixir first made by Benedictine friars at the San Clemente Abbey — a recipe some trace to 1100. Centerba, from Centum Herbora ("a hundred herbs"), was sold as a homemade remedy before Beniamino opened his pharmacy; it was even dispatched by the wagonload during the 1884 cholera epidemic in the Kingdom of Naples. The "72" arrived in 1972, when Enrico Toro and his father built the new distillery, rebranding the ancestral Centerba Toro as Centerba 72. The liqueur remains a slow, natural infusion of wild and naturally grown herbs, selected and picked by experts on the Maiella Madre and Morrone slopes, macerated without added sugar or flavors.
Tasting Notes
Vivid emerald green in the glass. The nose is a blast of alpine herbs — mint above all, with pine, wildflowers, and medicinal balsam underneath. At 140 proof the palate is fiery on entry, then resolves into an intensely herbal, dry, bitter-sweet complexity with a prevalence of mint and mountain botanicals. The finish is long, warming, and clean — the classic Abruzzo winter warmer that reviewers call "not for amateurs."
How to Enjoy
Drink Centerba 72 in small measures: neat at room temperature, well-chilled, or over ice after a heavy meal — this is a digestivo, not a session pour. In Abruzzo it also goes into cooking recipes and cocktails, where a quarter-ounce lends enormous herbal depth. Collectors of intense herbal liqueurs treat it as the benchmark against which every other high-proof digestivo is judged.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Centerba 72 taste like?
Intensely herbal and medicinal, dominated by mint and alpine botanicals, with a fiery 140-proof entry and a dry, warming, bitter-sweet finish.
Why is it called Centerba 72?
"Centerba" comes from Centum Herbora (a hundred herbs); "72" marks 1972, when the Toro family built their modern distillery and rebranded the ancestral Centerba Toro.
Is Centerba 72 the same as Centerba Forte?
They are sibling expressions from the same recipe lineage; Centerba 72 is the slightly softer 1972 distillery expression of the original high-proof formula.
How should you drink Centerba 72?
In small pours — neat, chilled, or on ice as a digestivo. A little goes a long way at 70% ABV.
Explore more of the Toro family's Abruzzo range in our Enrico Toro collection, or compare it with other bold Italian pours in aperitivo. Order Centerba 72 online from Del Mesa Liquor in San Diego, CA — if you dare.