Carpano Punt e Mes Vermouth
Bold and bitter, this vermouth, from the same producer as Antica Formula, will kick up your Negroni or Boulevardier a notch. With aromas that include menthol, sweet anise, tart Morello cherries, and tobacco leaf this has all the character you could possibly want in a sweet vermouth. The bitterness builds from start to finish on the palate, starting with some sweet and spicy notes: figs, cinnamon, cherries, and earth. The wave crests with orange peel and pith, licorice root, and a hint of chinchona. It's here where Punt e Mes separates itself from its ilk. Try it in your next cocktail that calls for Antica and let the waves crash over your palate.
In Torino, 1786, Antonio Benedetto Carpano invented the commercial model for what we know today as red vermouth, possibly even coining the term "vermuth." The Carpano brand was formalized some years later by Carpano's nephew. The red vermouths of subsequent producers, such as Cinzano and Gancia, were their own riffs on what Carpano first successfully marketed. Today, production is in Milano, Italy.
Wine Enthusiast
This aroma of this sweet vermouth suggests dark berries and savory spices. The first sip is sweet, rich and plummy, with flickers of juicy orange. The long finish is shored up with baking spice and dried thyme. Recommended for cocktails.