Heavy body, tawny appearance. Red licorice, pine, nutmeg, taffy, macerated fruits. Viscous texture with vanilla, orange peel, cooked red fruits, licorice, slight yeast and nutty note on the finish. Excellent stuff. Thus far I would say this works well for rye-based Manhattans but I feel like it’s lacking in the spice department when used for a Negroni. Not half bad for sipping but will continue to explore the category before committing to another bottle.

Rating: 19/23 N: This is funky. I get a little bit of sweet red fruit with a bunch of herbal bitterness and a ton of...mascarpone? What is this? It's funky and deep. A dash of orange zest. The bitter herbs almost make this a tiny bit smoky. I really can't describe the herbal flavor, unfortunately, but there's a lot going on. P: Dang, this is funky! It's sweet and tart with red fruit, but also this big, cheesy funkiness. Actually, I'm getting a bit of blueberry and marionberry as well. Some bitter orange. A bit vegetal and fairly herbal with some nice bitter flavors, including a little mint and faint anise.. The bitter funkiness deftly balances the sweetness. Oh, I do taste that mascarpone! Wow, that's an interesting flavor. Some cola for sure, but without the metallic element. There's a ton happening here - far more than in any other rosso vermouth I've tried. This is actually sippable. It's also by far the richest rosso vermouth I've tried. And the most complex and full. It's in that range of "is vermouth supposed to taste like this?", so it's very challenging, but it's engrossing and eventually enjoyable. F: Bitter and still funky less of the sweetness from the fruit, but still some fruit. More on the herbal side. A base layer of mascarpone continues long into the finish. - Conclusion - This is super funky. It's challenging, but it's a good type of challenge. I really dig it. I'm not sure that it's always going to perform well as a mixer, but I'm all for giving it a chance. And just sip it neat if doesn't work for a particular cocktail. I've had a really hard time rating this one - though it's been far from an unenjoyable one. I'm on my second bottle of this. I wish there were a soda as tasty as this. My consistent impression has been that this is at least a 19. I could maybe be convinced that it's an 18. It certainly isn't a 23, but the fact that I needed to stop and wonder about that speaks volumes. It's a terrific mixer as well, though the flavor needs to be matched with the cocktail and drinker. That said, I haven't found it terribly difficult to find cocktails that work well with this. I think I'm going to put this in the 19 to 21 range. Putting this side by side with some bourbons on my shelf (because they're the closest things I have in the appropriate score range to compare), my impression is that it is no 21. Might it be a 20 though? That's a very possible outcome. I'm not confident enough to go up to there though. I could keep tasting this, but I think I need to just give it a 19 and move on with life. I know I'll be buying another bottle at some point, so I'll have another chance to rate it. This tasting is based mostly on sipping this neat. It blows my mind that I can give a vermouth such a high rating neat. If I find a really excellent cocktail to use this in, I'll take that into consideration as well.

Aromas of dark fruit and spice. Prunes and black cherry. The sweetness is evident from the beginning but starts to give way to drier flavors on the finish

Extremely flavorful and powerful. Beware when mixing because it may throw a cocktail off balance. This will make the best Manhattan you will ever have. Very Vanilla forward with a crisp tang and herbaceous bursts.