Forthave Spirits 'Mithradates VI' Vino Amaro NV

Forthave Spirits is a distillery in Brooklyn, New York, which produces handcrafted botanical spirits including amaro, digestifs, aperitifs, and gin. Founder Daniel de la Nuez grew up on hip-hop and punk in New York and approaches his distilling with a DIY punk approach: “Do it yourself and figure it out. Don’t get a ton of investment and hire a bunch of people. If you really want it to be sustained through 30 years, you learn the entire process.”

This vino amaro takes its name from a first-century BCE king of Pontus who ruled much of Asia Minor with an iron fist and also, apparently, knew his way around the medicine cabinet. With a base of Finger Lakes red wine from hybrid grapes, it combines 32 botanicals for a warming, complex sip. Forthave doesn’t let us know all of the secret ingredients, but they do suggest “notes of figs, cardamom, cedar, and mace.”