Hotel Starlino – Starlino Rosso, Starlino Rosé, Starlino Arancione Welcome Gift Pack Review
THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER'S OWN.
Reviewed by Dee Ryz
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of Aperitivo, it’s a pre-meal drink that’s meant to warm your stomach in preparation for eating and is incredibly popular across Italy as a pre-dinner pastime. Having enjoyed Aperitvo hour in several Italian locations, I was keen to enjoy an Aperitvo hour at home with the Hotel Starlino Welcome Gift Pack.
The gift pack includes a 100ml bottle of each of their popular Aperitivos – Starlino Rosso Vermouth, Starlino Rosé, and Starlino Arancione, which means you can make a total of 6 tasteful cocktails – excellent value for money with RRP £12.95.
The bottles arrived in a cute little purple box, designed to look like their own little house, complete with pitched roof and drawn windows, and brickwork. The bottle design is retro and very reminiscent of 20s/30s era – the labels and colours look like they’re straight out of a Wes Anderson film! From having a look over their website, Hotel Starlino note that their design inspiration has been taken from the architecture of their distillery, Torino Distillati, situated outside of Turin, which is also the birthplace of Aperitivo. Yum! The back of the box even offers cocktail suggestions which is great if this is your very first Aperitivo hour.
It’s not just the design that will grab your attention – the Aperitvos themselves are absolutely stunning drinks too! All three drinks are a blend of fruits, spices and herbs, delicately balanced to produce flavoursome beverages. Molto bene!
The Starlino Rosso Vermouth is a traditional red vermouth. The difference with the Starlino brand is that the vermouth is aged in Kentucky Bourbon barrels which flavours it with warm and spicy flavours. This means that it’s perfect for a Negroni cocktail, which is exactly what I decided to make! Poured over ice, with equal parts gin and bitter orange liqueur, and adorned with a twist of orange peel, the Starlino Rosso Vermouth made a Negroni that packed a delectable punch! It was smooth and spicy, without being sharp – my partner enjoyed the sip of mine so much that he ended up using the rest to make his own (ahem!).
Starlino Rosé is lighter than the Rosso Vermouth both in colour and taste! It’s a wine-based drink, with the acidic hit of grapefruit and lemon. I hadn’t tasted a Rosé aperitivo before, and so I duly followed the cocktail recipe on the box to try it out. The spritz I made, was fruity and fizzy, and very, very tasty. A great, slightly sweeter alternative to the orange-flavoured Starlino Arancione. For this one, I decided to enjoy a spritz too – very similar to the cocktail I made with the Starlino Rosé. I poured the Arancione Aperitivo over ice, and added prosecco and soda water, dressing it with a slice of orange. While slightly more herby than other Aperitvo I have tried, I found it delightfully refreshing and overall incredibly moreish. It was possibly my favourite of the three!
From the packaging to the liqueurs themselves, the Hotel Starlino Welcome Gift Pack is perfectly premium meaning it would make a favoloso Christmas gift for the family member who fancies themselves a purveyor of all things spritz.
It’ll be Aperitvo all round in our house this Christmas for sure – bellisimo! 5 stars.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £12.95
For more information, visit www.thestarlino.com. Available to buy from Amazon here