Vermouth is a fortified aromatized wine that started its climb up the alcohol popularity leather in the late 18th century, though it existed long before.
As a fortified wine, it is distilled and mixed with other alcohols, which often are a proprietary blend of the manufacturer.
Vermouth is known as a very aromatic wine which is to be expected since it is aromatized with herbs, barks, and peels, the combination of which depends on the manufacturer.
As such, vermouth is a very versatile drink, and there are many types of vermouth with totally different features.
What once started as a rubbing alcohol used only for medicinal purposes developed as an aperitif served for the rich and mighty on their get-togethers.
With time, vermouth became ever so popular that it started doubling for white wine in cooking and also became a number one ingredient for cocktails.
Below, I will list the best vermouth for a martini, but first, let’s learn more about the types of vermouth.
Types of Vermouth
There are two basic kinds of vermouth, sweet and dry, which are also categories valid for wine as well. Nowadays, vermouth is the crucial ingredient in Martini, which makes this drink all the more popular.
Picking the right vermouth for a martini means making an irrevocable decision on whether your martini will be good or not so good. So, what may seem like a trivial thing plays a massive role in how you spend your martini evening.
Containing only gin and vermouth, the martini drink needs to be made with the crème de la crème of its ingredients.
All cocktails are better when made with top-quality drinks, but in this situation, when there are only two ingredients, and both are alcoholic, it is crucial that you use the best possible options.
Since there is no soda, syrup, or juice to mask up any possible faults, you will taste everything that is wrong with both the gin and vermouth times ten.
So, ensure your martini is made with the best of the best.
What is the Best Vermouth for a Martini?
Below, I will give you a list of the best brands of vermouth for a martini, so let’s dive right in.
1. Noilly Prat Original Dry
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DrY and floral, this vermouth goes particularly well with seafood, and it is an excellent choice for a martini. Flavored with a proprietary blend of herbs, among which chamomile and coriander are the most expressive ones, this vermouth is a well-balanced drink that will make your martini taste heavenly.
In addition, since it is more on the sweet side, it will create an excellent contrast with the naturally bitter gin, which will add vibrancy to your martini.
2. Dolin Dry
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Immortalized with the James Bond movies, where 007 drinks his martini with this particular vermouth, the secret agent with a license to kill isn’t his only fan. This vermouth is elegant, refined, and very delicious but also assertive.
It allures the nose with fresh and crisp citrus notes hinting that the flavor will be bitter. This misleading feature is probably what gives this drink its mysterious dimension, as bitterness couldn’t be further from the truth.
When you taste it and see it isn’t bitter, you will discover that it is, in fact, sweet and gentle, with expressive fruity notes and a high citrus tone mid-palate. It also includes menthol freshness, herbal notes, as well as a discrete but noticeable balsamic flavor.
3. Carpano Dry
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Vibrant and very flavorful, this vermouth is of a more complex nature. Some would call it creamy, some would call it exotic, and some would call it oily, but they would all agree that it is heavenly and delicious.
With expressive spicy notes mid-palate and intense floral aromas on the nose, this vermouth is where contrasts thrive. Combining notes of candied fruits, spices, herbs, lemon, and essential oils, it is undoubtedly an extremely seductive drink. Combined with gin in a martini, it makes the martini even more elegant than what you have expected. Also, the bitterer, the gin, in this case, the better.
4. Martini Reserva Speciale Ambrato
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Lightly bitter and very fragrant and vibrant, this vermouth merges tradition and modernity. Made with rare botanicals, very delicate and extremely fragrant, it is even more seductive than it sounds to be.
It is lightly bitter, just enough to accentuate all the other flavors and fragrances. Choosing a milder gin for your martini isn’t the worst idea with this vermouth.
5. Mancino Secco
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Very delicate and slightly bitter, this complex-flavored vermouth is incredibly delicious, original, and flavorful. Tasting like Mediterranean herbs, sage, marjoram, oregano, lemongrass, dog rose, iris, and nutmeg, it captures the palate with each of its many notes.
This vermouth will make your martini taste extremely vibrant and versatile, fresh, citrusy, and crisp, combining sweet, sour, and bitter notes.
6. Routin’ Dry
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So complex that it is almost impossible to fully describe it, this vermouth is one of those drinks you don’t drink but experience with all your senses.
Highly aromatic and expressively herbal, this vermouth is fresh and floral with intense notes of wormwood, rosemary, rose petals, bitter almonds, and juniper berries.
The above description is just a scratch on the surface of the whole mountain of flavors this vermouth encompasses. With a bitter gin, this vermouth would give you the best martini you can possibly imagine.
7. Ransom Dry
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Infused with 16 different herbs and based on white wine, this vermouth is very gentle. Chamomile, orange peel, anise, and cinnamon are among the most expressive flavor notes of this vermouth.
Enriched with fruity tones, this drink is slightly sweet, slightly bitter, and very fresh. There is also a slightly spicy note starting from the beginning of the sip and going all the way to the finish, exploding right before the end.
Using a simpler gin, your martini will taste simply heavenly with this vermouth.
8. Cizano Extra Dry
Intertwined with floral notes, this vermouth also exhibits tones of mint, sage, thyme, and citrus peel. On the nose, it starts with citrus freshness and spicy tones. Mid-palate, it continues to exhibit floral and oregano notes that mash together excellently.
The finish is flavorful but slightly sharp. Overall, it is assertive vermouth and slightly sharper than the rest on this list, but elegant nevertheless. To make the best of this vermouth in a martini, the gin should be more on the mellow side.
9. Perucchi Vermouth Blanc
Abundant in flavors and aromas, with many diverse notes that seemingly don’t come together, you will be amazed at how well these flavors mash together. The nose is very powerful, exhibiting floral notes, hinting at sweetness on the palate.
Mid-palate, it tastes like cinnamon, cloves, and buttered pastries. The finish is extremely smooth and full-flavored, gentle, and very soft. Mix it with a more straightforward and direct gin to get a well-balanced and delicious martini.
10. Imbue Bittersweet
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Tasting like peer, bitter orange, and explicitly herbal, this vermouth is the perfect balance between simplicity and complexity. With a floral nose and a fruity body, tasting expressively like orange and pear, it also has a particular honey-like dimension.
With a smooth, creamy, almost buttery texture and a silky finish, this vermouth is definitely among the top ones on the market and an undeniably excellent choice for a martini cocktail.
11. Quady Winery Vya Extra Dry
Abundant in aromas and flavors, this vermouth is herbal above everything else, with notes of lavender, elecampane, galangal, angelica, and other herbs that are a part of the proprietary blend of the producers.
The nose is completely herbal, with slight floral hints, while the body is fresh with citrus notes and, again, explicit and versatile herbal tones. It is an overall smooth vermouth with a very seductive texture and creamy consistency.
Mix it with a sharp gin to make an unforgettable martini you will definitely make a habit of.
12. Channing Daughters Vervino Variation One
With strong notes of forest herbs on the nose, this vermouth exhibits tones of calendula, sage, fennel, nasturtium, lemongrass, rose, basil, and black birch. It is an extremely aromatic and somewhat floral drink.
On the palate, you can clearly feel fresh tones that transpire all the way in the aftertaste, layering your mouth for the next sip. In a martini, it does exceptionally well with a bitter and stronger gin.
13. Carpano Antica
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In a word described as bitter, this is a classic dry vermouth that makes excellent martinis when mixed with a mellow gin.
It combines notes of herbs and orange peels; it is full-bodied and excellently balanced. Very herbal with a sharp nose, this vermouth is also fresh, slightly sour, and a bit tangy.
14. Alessio Vermouth Blanco
Bittersweet, including notes of baking spices, this vermouth is often compared to Dolin Blanc, which is unfair, as Alessio Blanco is quite an original drink. Combining notes of citrus and herbs, it is a classic martini vermouth mixing excellent with all kinds of gin.
Since it is so well balanced, none of the notes stand out but blend incredibly well with each other creating a single flavor unity you can easily describe and recognize.
This vermouth is often compared with vodka as it has the same crispiness as vodka, so expect it to bite a little.
What Is The Best Vermouth For Extra Dirty Vodka Martini?
Since you will be mixing gin, vodka, and vermouth, you can expect the flavor to be sharp and very bitter. Therefore you will need something to milden the flavors and tone things down. The best types of vermouth for extra dirty vodka martini are more on the softer side.
I would suggest you use something like Noilly Prat, Mancino Secco, Ransom Dry, or Channing Daughters. Whatever vermouth you use, make sure that it is gentle and soft.
What Is Vermouth For Martini?
Vermouth has become an inseparable part of the martini cocktail, so any dry vermouth would do nicely. Make sure you try the vermouth and the gin separately before mixing them together, and see that you pair soft vermouth with a strong gin.
However, if you are doing things by the book, make sure you use dry vermouth for the martini. Also, see that it is very herbal with fruity tones, and it is best that you pick a more renowned brand rather than some anonymous type of vermouth.
What Vermouth Does James Bond Use?
Depending on the James Bond movie, we can see 007 enjoying different types of alcohol. Dolin Dry is the vermouth he uses for his martini, but he also uses the vermouth from the Martini brand.
Is Martini Vermouth Sweet Or Dry?
Martini vermouth should be dry. Because martini contains gin and vermouth, the sweet vermouth flavor is too sweet to mash well with the naturally bitter gin. Therefore you need vermouth with a lesser amount of sugar and explicit herbal tones to make a good martini.
Sweet vermouth, although a delicacy in itself, is more on the floral and fruity side and is more sweet than herbal, which is to be expected since it contains more sugar.
Mixed with gin or with gin and vodka for a dirty martini, it doesn’t produce the best martini since the flavors don’t go too well together.
Is It Okay To Drink Vermouth Straight?
Vermouth falls under the aperitif category, making it perfectly okay to drink it as it is. It is absolutely to drink vermouth straight. In fact, before vermouth became a staple ingredient in a martini, it was served neat for a long time.
Resources:
- https://www.saveur.com/five-martini-worthy-vermouths/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermouth
- https://www.winespectator.com/articles/is-vermouth-a-kind-of-wine-or-isnt-it-49102
