abricotine is today a term applied to the clear, colorless brandy made from apricots in the Valais area of Switzerland, although similar products are made in Austria and Hungary (as Marillenbrand and barack pálinka). The spirit’s origins lie in the wave of fruit distilling that swept through the region in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
From the mid-nineteenth century until 1975, however, “Abricotine” was a proprietary term belonging to the French house of Garnier, which applied it to an apricot-flavored grape brandy liqueur; with the closure of the company, the Swiss had the field to themselves. Since 2003 abricotine has been designated with an AOP (appellation d’origine protégée, or protected designation of origin). Abricotine AOP is made with at least 90 percent Luizet apricots and must be a minimum 40 percent ABV. Cultivation of the fruit, fermentation, distillation (in hybrid eau-de-vie stills), and bottling all take place exclusively within the canton of Valais.
“Abricotine AOP (apricot brandy).” Valais.com. https://www.valais.ch/en/about-valais/local-products/quality-labelled-products/abricotine-apricot-brandy (accessed March 16, 2021).
“Distillerie Garnier.” Enghien–les–Bains.com, February 8, 2019. https://www.enghienlesbains.fr/fr/actualites/distillerie-garnier (accessed March 16, 2021).
By: Jack Robertiello