Maraschino for the Elite, Vlahovac for the Entire World

Zadar's Maraschino has always been an elegant drink of the European and world elite, so it is known that the legendary lover Casanova, the French Emperor and military leader Napoleon Bonaparte, the writer Honoré de Balzac, and the British King George IV all enjoyed the taste of this famous liqueur made of Marasca cherries. The story of another famous Zadar liqueur, Vlahov, or later Vlahovac, may not have been so glamorous, because this herbal aperitif with an extremely bitter taste was not a drink enjoyed only by the elite. It was enjoyed by everyone.

Vlahov liqueur spread all over the world in just twenty years, and could be purchased at pharmacies and liqueur stores in England, Russia, Spain, the United States, China, India, Turkey, Japan, Persia and Egypt. The story of Vlahov is connected to the name and story of its creator – the beverage manufacturer and industrialist, Roman Vlahov. The entrepreneur Vlahov, a Prvić island native (1838), moved with his family from Šibenik to Zadar, where he built his own plants and a modern factory in 1886 for the production of liqueurs in the area of Brodarica. Although Vlahov also produced Maraschino and some other types of liqueurs (the famous Amaro Zara) in Zadar, this entrepreneur from Prvić actually became most famous for Vlahov liqueur as an "invigorating stomach elixir" - as advertised by the R. Vlahov factory.

Vlahov is an aperitif made from about twenty types of medicinal herbs and various roots of aromatic plants, which makes it a valued and special elixir. The most important and basic ingredient of the liqueur is grape brandy, in which shells of green walnuts were soaked.

Vlahov started the liqueur production factory in Šibenik, and the next step was the building of a factory at Zadar's Brodarica, which still exists today under the name Maraska.