Zwack

It was in 1790 that Doctor Zwack, Royal Physician to the Imperial Court, offered the Habsburg monarch a sip of Unicum as a remedy for indigestion.

Legend would have it that the royal comment was:  ‘Dr. Zwack, das ist ein Unikum!’ giving this herb liqueur its name.

The fame and popularity of Unicum was gradually to spread far beyond the Court in Vienna.

Fifty years were to pass before a descendent of Doctor Zwack, Jozsef Zwack, founded the first Zwack company. He became known as “The General” in the trade and led the Company well into his nineties. It was on May 22, 1883, that the herb liqueur under the name Unicum, made according to the Zwack family’s secret recipe dating back to 1790, was officially registered under the number 805-071.

Ever since the very beginning Unicum was sold in the original round bottle with a red cross on its belly, although from 1899 a generous contribution to the pension fund of the Red Cross had to be made for permission to use the cross on the label. After 1922, upon termination of this agreement, the cross was changed to a gold cross on a red background as it has remained until today.

An original Hungarian creation. Zwack Liqueur is a blend of over 40 herbs, matured in oak casks for at last six months.