This week we continue with the Hungarian liquors and move to Unicum. Unicum is a herbal liquor that is actually meant to help with digestive issues. Right as you pour the aroma of black licorice fills your nostrils. The consistency is a little on the thick side and is extremely close to what you would expect from Jagermeister. Both have similar consistency, color, and aroma.
As soon as you taste it however you see they are not the same. Unicum has a spicy kick almost like a cinnamon influence. Although I’m not a huge fan of Jagermeister, there is a level of complexity with the Unicum you just don’t taste in Jager.
Unicum is said to have been created by Dr. József Zwack who was a royal physician. During World War II, the Zwack factory was completely destroyed. After the war, the Zwack family had fled the country. It is said that János Zwack had escaped with his family and the original Zwack recipe which he kept safe while he settled in the Bronx in 1949.
His son Peter returned to Hungary in 1988, one year before the fall of Communism and repurchased his family business from the State. He then started producing the original family recipe which was reintroduced into the hungarian market in 1990. In that same year, Peter was named the Hungarian Ambassador to the United States. Peter has since handed over his company’s ownership to his children who were able to bring Unicum to the US markets in 2013. Now that is a crazy awesome story!
Although this bottle did come from Hungary, you too can now find this in the US however I’ve never actually seen it in any stores. If you’re a fan of Jagermeister, then you’re going to absolutely love this herbal liquor.
