There is little doubt that Vermouth might perhaps be one of the most well-known cocktail ingredients out there. And the Martini line of this world-famous aperitif? Well, it might very well be the poster child of aperitivos around the globe. 

Before we dive into this esteemed vermouth brand, let's figure out exactly what is vermouth.

What Is Vermouth

Well, at a base level vermouth can be understood as a fortified wine aromatised with a blend of botanicals, including roots, barks, flowers, seeds, herbs, and spices.

Vermouth production starts with a base of low-alcohol white wine, which may be aged briefly. For sweet vermouths, sugar syrup is added before fortification with extra alcohol, typically a neutral grape spirit or one derived from sources like sugar beets.

Botanicals!

The fortified wine is then infused with a blend of dried botanicals in large barrels or tanks. In particular, colored vermouths achieve their color through various methods, including the use of color-contributing botanicals, the addition of red wine, or the application of colorings. 

There's three main types of vermouth, although certain locations such as  Chambéry and Torino have special appellation d'origine contrôlée designations.

• Dry Vermouth
• This vermouth is technically allowed maximum sugar content of only 50 grams per liter in the E.U., but sugar levels usually do not exceed 4%. As per the name, they are known to be dry, crisp and citrusy.
• Sweet/Rosso Vermouth
• A popular name known for its inclusion in classic cocktails such as the Negroni, sweet vermouth is dry vermouth's rich, sweeter cousin. It often has a red tinge about it. Heavier in body, sweet vermouths usually contain 10–15% sugar. Sweet vermouth has a sugar content of at least 130 grams per liter based on E.U. laws.
• Bianco/Blanc/Blanco Vermouth
• Often (though not always), referred to as "semi-dry", this usually has a sugar content of 50-90 grams per liter in the E.U.. However, many modern bianco vermouths exhibit a sweeter profile. It is said to be a good halfway-mark between dry and sweet vermouths, with a honeyed profile.

| You can read more about vermouth (and how to make your own) here!

A Brief History Of Martini

The story begins with two gentlemen by the names of Alessandro Martini and Teofilo Sola. The first two were hired to work in The Michel, Re, Agnelli e Baudino distillery in Turin, and took over the distillery in 1963.

That year, two things happened: They launched the company MARTINI, Sola e C.ia., and also invited one Luigi Rossi to become a partner. It was Luigi that created the  brand's first vermouth recipe: the MARTINI Rosso.

They did quite well too, in the coming years. The brand won its first award at the Dublin International Exhibition in 1865. Curiously, it is said a victorious angel figure on the award certificate inspired the brand's current logo!

In fact, it's prizes are still emblazoned on each bottle: Dublin (1865), Paris (1867 and 1878), Vienna (1873) and Philadelphia (1876). 

Just a few years later in 1879, the Sola family sold out and the company finally took up the name we know today: Martini & Rossi. 

Founders Alessandro Martini, Teofilo Sola and Luigi Rossi. (Left to Right)

By 1867, the brand's products had made its way across the world, with the first crates arriving in New York city. Just a mere 30 years after the first Martini vermouth entered a bottle, the brand's aperitifs were available in the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Greece, Portugal, Belgium, Egypt and other countries.

In 1883, Martini & Rossi expanded internationally by opening its first foreign subsidiary in Buenos Aires, which also featured a production facility. While the company continued to establish branches and warehouses elsewhere, Pessione remained the central hub for its operations.

In 1892 the business was taken over by Rossi's four sons.

Notably just a few decades later in 1908, the Italian Government certified the company's claim that it was the "largest vermouth factory in the world” in terms of production volume!

The current Martini ‘ball and bar’ logo was trademarked in 1929 and a year later, control of the company passed to Rossi's grandsons. Martini & Rossi merged with Bacardi in 1992. A 2006 market survey ranked Martini as the world's fourth most powerful spirit brand.

Of the many Martini aperitivos, the more popular ones are the Martini Bianco, Extra Dry and Rosso. After a merger in 1992 with Bacardi, it was said that that Martini was the world's fourth most powerful spirits brand in 2006.

Now contrary to popular belief, the Martini cocktail is not necessarily named after the brand of vermouth that takes the same name. One popular idea certainly is that it comes from the Italian brand, but other theories exist, such as one suggesting that it developed from a drink called the Martinez, which was supposedly served in the early 1860s at the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco. People often had this drink before catching an evening ferry to Martinez, California.

Notably, a "Martinez Cocktail" was first documented in Jerry Thomas's 1887 edition of his influential book, Bartender's Guide, How to Mix All Kinds of Plain and Fancy Drinks.

Jerry Thomas's Bartender's Guide, How to Mix All Kinds of Plain and Fancy Drinks has within the first (closest) known description of what would become the Martini.

Often synonymous with Dry, Bianco and Rosso vermouth, it is characterised by its dry, herbaceous, and slightly bitter profile with a (more often than not) light, floral, and almost medicinal taste.

But how exactly does Martini's line of vermouth taste like? Well, let's do a little rundown.

Martini Bianco Vermouth

This is made from white wines that include Trebbiano, which has then been infused with a blend of proprietary botanicals, including beet sugar.

Due to its minute amount of sweetness that's just between an Extra Dry and a Rosso, this is ideal for cocktails that call for some sugar to balance bitter elements in a drink that make it "dry" or astringent, but doesn't need that much sweetness that say, a Rosso will provide.

Cocktails: White Negroni, Corpse Reviver #2, White Bob Roy, Negroni, El Presidente

Tasting Notes

Nose: Gentle, clean and almost refreshing, albeit with a floral-herbaceous twinge. There's white flowers in here, with a light blend of spices and herbs, most evident of which is star anise and licorice. There's also thin vanilla syrup and a bit of crushed nuts like pistachio or walnut.

Palate: Again, gentle. The white florals and herbs carry through, but this time accompanied by spacey notes of raw honey that comes with a lesser presence of vanilla. There's a warming gingery heat, too. It's a tad richer than you might expect, although the mouthfeel isn't at all oily, but almost velvety. The citrus comes forth as a sort of grapefruit rind, which quickly turns to an ever-so-slight burst of flower tea, something like chamomile bitterness. 

Finish: The finish is quick but not rough. Curiously, there's a burst of tobacco and a quick return on the herbaceous notes, but a final end on something like green olives paired with that ginger heat noted on the palate. 

Martini Extra Dry Vermouth

This first emerged at the turn of the 20th Century as a result of much experimentation. It comes from a blend of Italian white wines that's again been infused with a proprietary set of botanicals, some of which includes Florentine Orris, woods, herbs, citrus and raspberry.

Ideal for those that want to eschew sweetness entirely, or at the very least temper a cocktail that has more sweet elements. This vermouth also has the added benefit of providing a dry, tannic mouthfeel that some might like, and also add more obvious herbal, floral or citrus notes.

Cocktails: Manhattan, Boulevadier, Brooklyn, Clover Club, Dry Manhattan

Tasting Notes

Nose: This expression has always surprised most people I've seen try it. If you are expecting something like the Bianco, you'd be somewhat intrigued by the more perfumed nose this vermouth presents. There's a light freshness of raspberry with wet apple and peach skins, along with what I could describe as a white-floral honey. It's almost this perfume which then gives way to a more present bitterness than the bianco, led by a faint caramel laced with grapefruit rinds.

Curiously, this has a slightly more distinct herbal and botanical aroma than the bianco, and it includes juniper berries, with a subtle spiciness from coriander seed. If you look for it, theres sometimes a faint woody undertone. 

Palate: In a rather expected way, this vermouth enters crisply and cleanly. While not exactly "dry" in the most traditional way, it is somewhat sweet just on the edges of each mouthful. Nevertheless, the dryness certainly distinguishes it from sweeter vermouths off the get go.

A white floral note comes forth at the start too, this time interlaced with a more present caramel presence. This all lies above a middling amount of astringency. The citrus notes detected on the nose translate to the palate with a bright zestiness of lemon and again, that hint of grapefruit peel.

On top of the rather obvious mouthfeel, there's a stronger mixed note of subtle peachiness, or what might also be a faint melon-like note. There's just a bit of gin-like influence here too, with a more characteristic juniper note pricked by orris root.

Finish: Just as the finish comes around, the spices return for a quick goodbye. There's star anise, coriander seeds and faint white pepper. There's a burst of salinity and I'm left with a lip-smacking violet influence.

Martini Rosso Vermouth

Unlike the previous two white vermouths, this is a red vermouth that is again made from a blend of Italian wines including Trebbiano and Cataratto, that is then infused with Italian herbs such as sage, savory, dittany and bittersweet woods.

Also known as sweet vermouth, this is useful to put in a cocktail if you have a sweet tooth, or if you want to replace the simplicity of sugar syrups with something more aromatic and layered. It can work best to balance out a drink with lots of bitter notes, or perhaps something that would otherwise be one dimensional without something to lend more flavor.

Cocktails: Americano, Old Flame, Vieux Carré, Negroni

Tasting Notes

Nose: Immediately, the Rosso is more pronounced and richer than both the Extra Dry and Bianco (a tad obviously). It's sweet, notably spicy and aromatic. It offers stewed, spiced plums with just a sprinkle of dark cherry and fig syrup.  

There's a more obvious bundle of spice notes here, such as cinnamon, clove, and a hint of nutmeg, along with something like a musky, old dresser. On the back of each sniff, you can get another hit of that rich sweetness like molasses with vanilla, licorice and a hit of orange peel.

Palate: Rich and sweet in equal layers, it provides that stewed fruit with spice, but now with a sort of mulled wine quality to it. The herbs and spices carry through in equal respect, although they are admittedly more muted the more you taste it. The bitterness really does balance out any sweetness and prevents it from being too cloying. However, notes of espresso and cola can be found here, especially if it's left to sit for a bit, while that wood note earlier becomes something like the musk of dried oregano. Curiously, this is more reminiscent of Sherry, backed with just the tiniest amount of savoury notes with a subtle echo of that tobacco noted earlier. 

Finish: Moderately long and warming, the bittersweet notes linger with the herbal and spicy elements persisting alongside the fading fruit sweetness. There's a more defined raisin like quality at the end, accompanied by a surprising but not unpleasant burst of tannins like almond skins or crushed pistachio.

How To Use Vermouth?

So, we all know by now that vermouth can (and are) used in the making of a great many cocktails. Which cocktails? Well, we'll get to that later! For now, let's figure out that oft-overlooked question of why they are so used in cocktails.

Like many things in the world of cocktails, there's not much specific dates or historical data that show when the first time vermouth was ever used in a cocktail. However, we do know that the first recorded instance of a cocktail with vermouth was known as the "Vermouth Cocktail," which appeared in J. Haney's 1869 Steward and Barkeeper's Manual. 

To be fair, it was very liberally called a cocktail. This early recipe was less a complex cocktail and more of a chilled vermouth drink served with ice and a lemon twist. By the 1880s, the "Vermouth Cocktail" was further refined in Harry Johnson's manuals, adding elements like bitters and maraschino. A few decades later? Well, it became very much an afterthought when it came to cocktail making.

Again, there's no hard-and-fast rules as to why a vermouth can be used in a cocktail. In general, it's more of a "should" than "must" situation, and your drink certainly won't explode in your hands if you say, use a sweet vermouth in a dirty martini.

What vermouth does at a base level, as some of you might have heard from bartenders serving you, is that it balances out a drink while also contributing to the cocktail's flavors. Now, before you say that can be achieved with other things like juices or liqueurs, I must remind you that back then, bars didn't quite have the luxuries of fresh fruit, fruit juices, or readily available liqueurs (unless they had a time machine).

Cocktails sometimes need dilution, especially in boozier, higher ABV drinks. Cocktails also need good flavors in them, and sometimes simply diluting a drink with a ton of ice or water doesn't really cut it. Imagine a negroni with no vermouth and water instead. Ouch!

And that's where vermouth comes into play. Vermouth is the ideal middleman that provides both dilution without compromising on flavor. In fact, the additional notes that vermouth brings actually help add nuance and depth to an otherwise simple cocktail in certain circumstances (Think the dry martini)!

There's also how vermouth adds element of fruit in a cocktail without the often obvious flavors that juices impart. 

Of course, once a vermouth is opened it should really be refrigerated and not left in the open. Even then, one should expect a change in flavor if using a vermouth that's been open for more than a month. After all, it is a fortified wine, and like most wines aeration will change how it tastes, for better or worse.

And after a couple of months? Well, I wouldn't have my money on it tasting better than when it was first opened.

*Suspiciously racoon-like noises*

Contributed by @Definitelynotthreeracoons