The Molinari brothers have put the Italy on the golfing map in recent years including competing side-by-side in the victorious 2010 Ryder Cup.

But no sooner had Tour Miss and our young assistant, Rubee King arrived in Milan on route to Turin for this week’s BMW Italian Open and we spotted the Molinari’s side-by-side in a bar close to Milan Malpensa Airport.

The Mollinari Brothers – two bottles of Molinar Sambuca. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)

However the Molinari’s in question were bottles of Molinari Sambuca extra though on closer observation the left-hand bottle seemed a little more popular than his brother on the right.

Francesco revealed his management company, IMG had approached the company regarding sponsorship but the company was not interested.

Sambuca is made from anise, star anise, liquorice as well as elderflowers.  The oils are added to pure alcohl, a concentrated solution of sugar, and other flavouring. It is commonly bottled at 42% alcholol by volume.

The Molinari company states that the name Sambuca comes from an Arabai word: Zammut. This was the name of an anise-flavoured drink that arrived to the port of Civitavecchia by ships coming from the East.  However the Oxford Dictionary states the term comes from the Latin word sambucus, meaning ‘elderberry’.

The first commercial version of such a drink started at the end of 1800 in Civitavecchia, where Luigi Manzi started selling Sambuca Manzi.

In 1945, soon after the end of World War 11, Angelo Molinari started producing Sambuca Extra Molinari, which helped popularise Sambuca throughout Italy.