Okay one extremely niche reason I wanted to start doing a blog is I've started to drink vermouth a fair amount. I had never really enjoyed vermouth - probably because I was always drinking the Dolan sweet stuff, which I've always found very perfume-like. A few months back, however, I picked up a bottle of Little City vermouth basically on a whim and was completely blown away by how delicious it was - so much so that I took to drinking it straight up, cold from the fridge, in tiny glasses, like an ancient Spanish man. I know almost nothing about vermouths, a category that I feel like is even less considered than amari, and I figured a weird little vermouth review section might be helpful.
METHODOLOGY: As I see it you generally want to know the following about sweet vermouths (as those are what I pretty much solely plan to be sampling): does it taste good in a whiskey-based cocktail, does it taste good in a gin-based cocktail and - if you're a sicko like me - does it taste good on its own. So my plan is to try each reviewed vermouth in a rye manhattan (2 parts Old Overholt + 1 part vermouth + 2 splashes Angostura bitters), in a negroni (1 part Camprai + 1 part Misguided Spirits Bathhouse John's Grown Man Gin*) and straight up. I'm actually going to do this backwards to how it's written here so I can talk about how the vermouth tastes on its own, followed by a lighter cocktail and finishing with pitting it against Old Overholt, a rye I love but which is not so affectionately known as Old Overcoat.
LA FUERZA ROJO VERMOUTH
La Fuerza Rojo Vermouth is the first bottled vermouth from the Andes, although it draws on a long tradition of Argentine vermouth-making, apparently! Made using local Malbec grapes and botanicals, it's the signature vermouth of Buenos Aires' La Fuerza Bar, a place I just learned about right now but want to live in for the rest of my life.
They have a pretty cool website and a cool bottle
STRAIGHT UP:
Starting with a really interesting nose of almost full vanilla, the first thing I really taste is cherry notes - almost like cherry heering but a lot gentler and more subtle. What is REALLY surprising is a transition to a very herbal, almost vegetal backend - surprisingly bitter and bracing giving the sweetness up front. It's not my favorite sipping vermouth so far but it's definitely interesting.
NEGRONI:
The color of the vermouth renders this a very dark, very attractive purplish shade, and the taste itself doesn't disappoint - the cherry and vanilla notes of the vermouth compliment the florals of the gin really well. This is a really well-rounded Negroni.
THE BOULEVARDIER TEST:
Ahhh swing and a miss - this is no match for Old Overcoat. I'm getting a little bit of the cherry but mostly just the corn of the rye and maybe a little bit of the bitterness at the back, which isn't exactly pleasant.
FINAL JUDGEMENTS: This is probably not going to enter my rotation for sipping but if you're a fan of lighter cocktails with vermouth definitely check this one out.