How to get a liqueur named after you

For Italian Major1 Giuseppe Galliano, it took abandoning a besieged fort and then dying at the hands of an overwhelmingly larger Ethiopian army. To be fair to the Major, he and his garrison stationed at the Ethiopian town of Makalle held out for 41 days before being offered safe passage for a fee by besieger Menelik II on January 6, 1896. Having escaped certain death at the "Enda Jesus" fort, Giuseppe and his men rejoined the Italian army of approximately 20,000 troops who faced an Ethiopian army of about 100,000 and almost certain death. The Battle of Adowa2, fought on March 1, 1896 proved to be a crushing defeat for Italian expansionist plans in East Africa. Giuseppe died during a poorly-executed retreat on Mount Bellah during the battle.

The maker and the making

Arturo Vaccari, an Italian distiller from Tuscany created an herb liqueur in 1896 and decided to name it after the war hero. The yellow color of Galliano is supposedly to symbolize the gold rush, as many Italians were emigrating to California to seek their fortune at the time. Herbs found in Italy - mint, anise, and lavender - along with other plants found outside of Italy such as cinnamon, coriander, and vanilla are a few of the ingredients found in the 70 proof (35% alcohol) liqueur.

With its exact recipe a secret, estimates range from 25 to 80 different ingredients to give Galliano its distinct taste. Vanilla is the predominant flavor of the bunch, which includes angelica, ginger, and juniper to name a few. According to one source, the distillation process begins with all the herbs, plants, roots, berries, and spices except the vanilla infused into a neutral alcohol base, which is then distilled and the vanilla added. Sugar, water, and more neutral alcohol are added in the final stage to produce Galliano which is then packaged in its distinctive narrow, tall ridged bottle.

Drinks with Galliano

Probably the most popular mixed drink featuring Galliano is the Harvey Wallbanger - a screwdriver with Galliano added. A few of the over 100 recipes for drinks that include Galliano are: golden Cadillac, lemon drop, sloe comfortable screw, hot shot, root beer float, liquid gold, mellow yellow, and the screaming multiple orgasm.


1 Various sources list Giuseppe Galliano's rank as major, major-general, and lieutenant colonel. The majority have him listed as a major, so that's what I went with.

2There are two different spellings for the location of the battle - Adwa is other spelling.

Resources:
http://bartendingschool.blogspot.com/2005/08/trivia-history-of-galliano-liqueur.html
http://www.thatsthespirit.com/en/mixology/brands/Galliano.asp
http://www.classicliquors.com/famous.htm
http://www.idrink.com/viewingred.html?id=46
http://www.guardian.co.uk/christmas2001/story/0,11353,615098,00.html
http://www.mattonigranddrink.com/glossaryresult.php?id=32&show=*
http://www.maxxium.com/_com/brand_detail_other_galliano.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galliano_(drink)
http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/india/italyethiopia1895.htm
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:HjSuUo1cH0AJ:preview.thehistorynet.com/militaryhistory/articles/1997/10972_text.htm+giuseppe+galliano+adwa&hl=en
http://www.defense-training.com/quips/2001/28Feb01.html
http://www.marcusgarvey.com/wmview.php?ArtID=450&page=4