Izarra means “star” in Basque, and is a brand of liqueur that was created in 1906 in Hendaye, in the Basque Country, by the botanist and pharmacist Joseph Grattau. Izarra is a liqueur made from a distillate of plants, spices and 2 macerations, prunes and walnut husks. After being heated in a copper still, the distillate is blended with armagnac in accordance with the original recipe. A symbol of the Basque Country, Izarra was acquired by Cointreau SA in 1981 then sold in 2015 to Spirited Brands Limited, and has been distributed by the Vedrenne group since 2018.

Range

Izarra can be enjoyed in cocktails, as a long drink or neat as an after-dinner liqueur. In the course of its history, it has crossed paths with Ernest Hemingway, Nikita Khrushchev and French chef Pierre Gagnaire. There are two types of Izarra :

Production

The liqueur was inspired by a formula dating from 1835 that Joseph Grattau discovered when he set up his business in Bayonne. To recreate the original flavour, the recipe was revised in 2019, with a greater concentration of plants and a reduced sugar content. Green and yellow Izarra have a common base of ten plants and spices that are first distilled in a copper still. A simple spirit is produced, of which only the heart or “middle cut” is retained. This is then blended with a mixture of walnut husks and prunes which has itself been macerated several months in pure spirit. Finally, for green Izarra, the master distiller adds some armagnac and a little sugar to obtain Izarra, known in its glory years as “sunshine in a glass”. For yellow Izzara, the final blend includes honey which is added after various macerations in alcohol and armagnac.

History

Cocktails

Six top French mixologists have created Izarra-based cocktails of which the most well known are: Several new cocktails have been developed since 2018: