●THE AMARO ATLAS

RECORD cardinal-spirits · EVIDENCE GRADE A · UNCLAIMED · LAST VERIFIED 2026-07-05

Cardinal Spirits

Bloomington · United States · 39.165, -86.526

REGION: north americaTRADITION: World amaroEST. 2013WEBSITE ↗

ZONE 01 — VERIFIED FACTS

Founded
Founders describe a phased timeline: conceived 2011, business plan 2012, funded and formally founded 2013, distillery built 2014, opened to the public 2015. Founded by Adam Quirk, Jeff Wuslich, Rick Dietz and Jason Katz.A·2
Address
922 South Morton Street, Bloomington, IN 47403, United StatesA·2
La Boîte Amaro ABV
20% ABV (40 proof), 750ml bottleA·1
Production base
Red grapes fermented to wine, distilled to a wine distillate (not neutralised), then infused several weeks with a 15-botanical spice blendB·3
Collaboration partner
La Boîte, the New York spice shop founded by chef Lior Lev Sercarz, who created the custom spice blendA·1
Development time
Amaro recipe took over two years to develop before releaseB·3
Distribution footprint
Cardinal Spirits distributes across 12 US states and Washington, D.C.A·2
Style positioning
Producer explicitly frames the product as food-table amaro, deliberately lower in bitterness, sweetness and alcohol than most Italian amariA·1

ZONE 02 — AI-COLLATED SUMMARY

AI-ASSISTED · FROM GRADED PUBLIC SOURCES

Cardinal Spirits is a craft distillery in Bloomington, Indiana, founded across 2011-2015 (conceived 2011, funded 2013, opened to the public 2015) by Adam Quirk, Jeff Wuslich, Rick Dietz and Jason Katz. Its amaro, La Boîte Amaro, is a collaboration with New York spice shop La Boîte: red grape wine is distilled to a wine distillate, infused for several weeks with a 15-botanical blend built around star anise, licorice, orange peel and green cardamom, then blended back with red grape juice for sweetness and mouthfeel. At 20% ABV, the producer positions it explicitly as a lighter, less bitter, food-friendly American amaro meant for the table rather than the bar cart. A second product, Nocino, was reviewed but excluded from the atlas: it is vodka-based with no bitter descriptor.

AI-collated from the graded sources below; re-verified against source pages 2026-07-08; operator review pending

ZONE 03 — PRODUCER-SUBMITTED NOTES

This record is unclaimed. This space opens to the producer when they claim it. Producer claiming is coming soon.

PRODUCTS ON RECORD

La Boîte Amaro

20% ABV · 750ML

BOTTLE IMAGE
ADDED BY THE PRODUCER

SUBCATEGORY aperitivoRING coreTRADITION World amaroSELF-IDENTIFIED “American amaro”

A collaboration between La Boîte, the New York spice shop run by Lior Lev Sercarz, and Cardinal Spirits of Bloomington, Indiana. Red grapes are fermented into wine and distilled to a wine distillate, which is infused for several weeks with a custom 15-botanical spice blend built around star anise, licorice, orange peel and green cardamom, with blowtorch-toasted oak and cherry wood chips added to the infusion for colour and warmth. The infusion is filtered and blended back with a portion of red grape juice for sweetness and mouthfeel. Two years in development, the producers describe it as a food-table amaro built to be lighter in sweetness, alcohol and bitterness than most Italian amari, intended for sipping alongside meals rather than as an aperitivo or digestivo.

BOTANICAL MATRIX — 8 GRADED EDGES

  • Star anise · spice/warmthA·1
  • Licorice · sweetness/bitteringA·1
  • Orange peel · citrusA·1
  • Green cardamom · spiceA·1
  • Toasted oak chips · colour/warmth (blowtorch-toasted, added during infusion)B·3
  • Cherry wood chips · smoke character (blowtorch-toasted, added during infusion)B·3
  • Red grape wine distillate · spirit base (not neutralised — wine character carries into the infusion)B·3
  • Red grape juice · sweetness/mouthfeel (blended back post-infusion)B·3

DESCRIPTORS

  • Herbaceous ▮▮▮▮▮A·1
  • Citrus ▮▮▮▮▮A·1
  • Smoke ▮▮▮▮▮A·1
  • Licorice ▮▮▮▮▮B·3

SERVES

Neat, slightly chilled

producer
  • · 2 oz La Boîte Amaro, chilled

Serve chilled with no mixerA·1

La Boîte Amaro & Soda

producer
  • · 2 oz La Boîte Amaro
  • · Club soda, to top
  • · Lemon garnish

Build over ice, top with soda, garnish with lemonA·1

Amaro Manhattan

producer
  • · La Boîte Amaro in place of, or alongside, standard vermouth/amaro component

Stir with ice, strainA·1

ZONE 04 — COMMUNITY TASTING NOTES

RESERVED — community notes open in V2 with moderation and bias handling. The contributions ledger is already recording.

ZONE 05 — ASTERLEY EDITORIAL NOTE

La Boîte Amaro sits at the edge of the amaro category by the producer's own account, explicitly lower in bitterness and ABV than typical Italian amaro. It is included here on the strength of its self-identification as amaro, its bitter-herb botanical architecture (star anise, licorice, cardamom) and its spirit-distillate base, which passes the atlas's spirit-base test. Classified world-amaro/north-america to reflect its deliberate departure from Italian convention.

COMMON QUESTIONS

Where is Cardinal Spirits made?
Cardinal Spirits is made in Bloomington, United States, and was founded in 2013.
What style of amaro is Cardinal Spirits?
On The Amaro Atlas, La Boîte Amaro is recorded in the core ring, aperitivo subcategory, within the World amaro tradition. The producer describes it as "American amaro".

SOURCES — A–D GRADED (4)

  1. [1]ALa Boîte Amaro — product page · Cardinal Spirits · producer-official · accessed 2026-07-05
  2. [2]AAbout Cardinal Spirits · Cardinal Spirits · producer-official · accessed 2026-07-05
  3. [3]BCardinal Spirits x La Boîte: An American Amaro · La Boîte · interview · accessed 2026-07-05Founder interview (Adam Quirk) on La Boîte's own blog; corroborates production process and development timeline verbatim on re-fetch (2026-07-08): wine distillate base, blowtorch-toasted oak/cherry wood chips, grape-juice blend-back, >2-year development
  4. [4]ANocino (Indiana Green Walnut Amaro) — product page · Cardinal Spirits · producer-official · accessed 2026-07-05Reviewed and excluded from product list: walnut liqueur steeped in vodka, no bitter descriptor found on re-fetch (2026-07-08); does not meet core-ring bitterness test

A producer-official / regulatory · B reputable published · C secondary · D community/unverified