Herbes and Palo Liqueur

From medicine to tipple

The fact that Minorca long remained largely isolated from the Iberian Peninsula, as well as repeated invasions over the centuries by different civilisations and cultures, has endowed the island with a distinctive culture particularly evident in its cuisine - and its tipples are in turn an excellent example of this. The liqueurs Herbes and Palo, for example, are rooted in naturally-sourced medicinal tinctures intended to treat and prevent maladies as far back as the 16th century. Palo was used to combat malaria (the name comes from paludismo, which in turn is derived from the plasmodium, the parasite carried by transmitting mosquitos). Today it's one of the island's most popular tipples, most often taken as an apéritif. Herbes, in contrast, has been touted as a digestive aid, and so is most commonly taken after meals. Cheers!