If for you the word "walnut" calls to mind nothing but sundae toppings and salad dressings, then now is the time to expand your horizons. Like, right now. Rouse yourself to investigate the walnut liqueur called nocino.

Why the rush? Deep winter is prime season for a dark delicacy that’s bottled in summer and traditionally released around Christmas; in cold weather, its spicy bittersweetness sticks to the bones and the soul. And if you try it, you will not be alone: The elixir is suddenly prominent at popular cocktail bars and with home mixologists. It’s no longer the purview of just snooty bartenders and kerchiefed nonnas.

Indeed, nocino is popping up in so many places—in drinks and, yes, on sundaes—that it’s becoming hard to find; demand is outstripping supply and stockrooms have been stripped bare. If you’re at all tempted by the promise of its complexity, run out to your finest local liquor store for a bottle as soon as possible. But first, what you need to know.

How it's pronounced:

With a soft c and an i like a long e: no-CHEE-no.

Where it's from:

Traditionally, the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, at the foothills of the Appennines. In those parts, nocino is a local tradition comparable to that of limoncello, further down the peninsula. Every family swears by its ancestral recipe. (Nearby Austria has a similar tradition in its Nux Alpina Walnut Liqueur, which has made a big impression among international bartenders.)

American distilleries have tried to get in on the game, too, but have been hampered by Mother Nature. Ohio's Watershed Distillery (most famous for its crisp bourbon and frisky gin) made and moved 2,500 bottles of its first nocino in 2014-15. The next year it shipped 5,000, and this season it failed to reach a goal of 10,000 only because of a disappointing walnut harvest. Meanwhile, across the border in Indiana, Cardinal Spirits is in its second year of distributing a relatively strong (80 proof) maple-tinged nocino—it says that of all its seasonal spirit releases, it’s the most popular.

Read more at source: Bloomberg