‘With a fly?’ This ritual, allegedly invented in Via Veneto in the bars of the Dolce Vita, has made Sambuca Molinari one of the world’s most drunk Made in Italy liqueurs. A ritual whose origin is lost in legend but seems to date back to a fun episode starring Federico Fellini, Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg and Walter Chiari during the filming of ‘La Dolce Vita’. It seems that during a break, the actors were sipping sambuca in a bar on Via Veneto, and one of them, after playfully dropping a coffee bean into the glass, shouted: ‘A fly!’
The origins of a myth
Apart from this episode, Sambuca Molinari’s story is indeed a story where myth and entrepreneurial initiative come together. It all begins with Angelo Molinari, born in 1893, who moved to Addis Ababa (a city he had visited as a soldier during the war) to run a bar at the end of the First World War. Here, he learned the mixing techniques and the use of flavourings. When he returned to Italy in 1936 with his wife and six children, he started working in Civitavecchia with the Ischian patriot entrepreneur Luigi Manzi, who since 1851 had been producing a sambuca well known in Lazio, made from star anise.
The Dolce Vita liqueur
After years of working for the company, in 1945, Molinari decided to strike out on his own and open a factory to produce sambuca with a recipe that is still secret today; thus, Molinari Extra was born.
Angelo Molinari’s children, Mafalda and Marcello, did their best in the 1950s and 1960s to introduce the delicious liqueur to the barmen of the Dolce Vita. Soon, many celebrities appreciated it, starting with Frank Sinatra, who wrote a letter to Angelo Molinari singing the praises of the now famous liqueur.
An unstoppable rise
In the 1970s, Molinari’s rise in Italy and internationally was unstoppable. The Molinari name became almost synonymous with sambuca. In 1975, a second modern factory was built in Colfelice (FR) to meet demand. There have been many testimonials for the brand over the years, from Adriano Panatta to Walter Chiari to Jose Mourinho, who lent his voice to the 2013 advertising campaign.
The Fondazione Angelo e Mafalda Molinari ONLUS was established in 2006. It carries out social initiatives for children in trouble and donates equipment to children’s hospitals.
Today, Molinari Italia SpA is still firmly in the family’s hands. It maintains its headquarters in Civitavecchia, with Mario Molinari and Angelo Jr. Molinari at the helm. It has dozens of employees, a turnover of millions of euros, and sells a third of its liquor production in 80 countries.
Congratulations to those who bring Sambuca Made in Italy to the world!
Discover more excellent Italian liqueurs.