Ancient33w
Carpano Antica Formula Vermouth
Vermouth — Italy
Reviewed
November 2, 2020 (edited July 1, 2022)
I recently finished a 375 ml bottle of this excellent vermouth and all of the great things said about this are true. The flavors are amazing and either by itself or in a mixed drink it tastes delicious. The only drawback to this pricey wine is that my turned in only 2 weeks and ended up tasting like burn pencil erasers. I kept it in the refrigerator from the time I bought it and I had made some of the very best Manhattans and a Martinez. However, when I made a Negroni the flavors were not playing well with each other, so I will revisit the recipe again with different gins and maybe Aperol instead of Campari. This stuff is almost the perfect sweet vermouth with the sweetness upfront cut by the bitter herbs. On the nose, you really get the dried fruit like raisins or even dates it is that sweet. The body is full and delicious. I had this neat and on the rocks and they were both nice even though I am not a real wine fan. My only criticism is that mine had such a short shelf life and I do believe that this is worth the price you pay for it. The turned liquid I used to cook with and it added a wonderful flavor to the meat. This is an excellent product that I will continue to buy. Enjoy
30.0
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per
Bottle
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Great review. I got turned on to this a few years ago and have passed the favor to many. I like my Manhattan with bourbon and usually use JTS Brown bib. Will have to try cooking with it.
Hey Scott_E. Rittenhouse is a very solid rye I need to try it again but with so many good to great rye whiskey's on the market it is hard to try them all.
On the topic of cooking, lamb also goes well with apricot, so a little bit of Grand Marnier can also be good. I'd be interested to try it with ouzo since it has that natural licorice flavor. Usually, I just go with herbs like thyme and rosemary with some garlic, caramelized onion jam, and maybe a squirt of lemon. I've had red wine sauces with beef though and I'd be interested to try one with lamb :)
@cascode Wow, that's really frustrating! I can't go through vermouth all that quickly, so I'd be reduced to cooking with it. Not that that's all that bad - and it's definitely the case that you can taste good alcohol in cooking, just like any other good ingredient - but this is a pretty expensive bottle to use for that purpose.
@ContemplativeFox We only get this in 1 litre bottles out here, which is really annoying, and the principle reason I only buy it for special occasions. Fortunately I have several mates who, along with their respective partners, are also big cocktail fans so between 6-10 people we go through a good bit of a bottle. What I usually do is decant whatever is left over into a suitably sized small sealable bottle and give it to one of the guys, but the idea of cooking with it is very appealing. @Ancient33w Lamb - that sounds interesting - we usually have a malt vinegar-based mint sauce for roast lamb, but I have done a red-wine sauce for a crown roast. Vermouth rouge could be interesting there.
@Ancient33w this is all I use for my Rittenhouse Manhattans, with a Luxardo cherry. 375 stored in the fridge as you stated. Nice review.
Hey Fox. This is really an outstanding vermouth if you can find a 375 ml bottle get that and just remember that the clock is ticking as far as drinking it. If you like Manhattans try soft ryes like Sazerac or Bulleit the vermouth is more present. If you like bold rye like Pikesville or 1776 then the vermouth smooths the edges of the rye.
Thanks cascoda. It is an outstanding marinade for beef and darker pork. I used this with garlic, bay leaves, and fennel for pork and it was good. I also wonder about lamb?
I'm really going to have to try this sometime now that I've gotten two strong recommendations for it :) The price and lifespan are discouraging though :(
Good review! I ordered a bottle of this just yesterday. We are having guests this weekend and I expect some serious cocktail business, so it's worth getting some of the good stuff in. Yes, it is quite fragile - much more so than you might expect - and the same is true for all vermouth. I think you do notice it more when the good ones start to go flat. Do you recommend it as a marinade or when cooking, or in a sauce? I'd imagine it's better with red meat than white, but pork might work well. Kangaroo could be interesting too. Now I'm hungry :-)