Cocchi Vermouth di Torino

This is seriously belting gear. Get a bottle for the summer. We bung it in the fridge to chill then serve it neat over a bit of ice, sometimes lengthen with some soda, and in short, it’s like a complex cocktail in a glass.

Still produced according to the original recipe of Giulio Cocchi, it qualifies as a sweet vermouths, or, for the old school, an Italian vermouth. Back in the day the Italians tended to be categorised as sweet, French drier, but this doesn’t hold so much these days since the Italians make stunning dry vermouth as well – go back to your Cocchi Extra Dray. So this is sweet and amber, a colour determined, recorded and demanded since the 19th century.

It’s no over-statement that this vermouth has been spearheading an the rebirth of luxury vermouth, check out the best bars in the world and you’ll see it on the shelves. And with that in mind, it’ll also serve you well in  cocktails, not least a Manhattan.

The Cinchona and rhubarb lightly colour clear wine, some cooked brown sugar enhances the amber tone. Then there’s the Artemisia for a balance of bitter and citrusy notes, into cocoa and bitter orange,d balsamic woods, camphor and rosemary notes, into sandal, musk, myrrh and nutmeg. In short then, flippin’ complex.