Rating: 14/23 N: Richer and less astringent and sugary than Noilly Prat Rouge. It's fuller with less minerality as well and more of a savoriness, a little bit like sharp cheddar. Not terribly complex, but decently enticing. P: Richer, oilier, and more bitter than Noilly Prat Rouge. Less sweet, watery, and ... metallic? This is a little more like an amaro, though it is clearly a sweet vermouth. Pomegranate and red grape skins come through here. It isn't terribly complex and it might be a tad bitter but it's well balanced. I get just a hint of that sharp cheddar funk coming through too, though not much. A hint soapy as well. F: Bitter with that classic sweet vermouth medicinal red fruit flavor remaining. A solid finish. I'm not quite sure that this is an improvement over Noilly Prat Rouge and I'm highly skeptical that it is a better value for the money given that is costs more than twice is much. Tragically, I don't have enough to also try it in a cocktail because all I had was a single sample. Therefore, I'm rating it based on its flavor neat and my best conservative guess as to how it would do in a cocktail. I suspect that this would hold up a bit better, sort of like upgrading from Ezra Brooks to Wild Turkey 101 to add more fullness. Still, that's pretty speculative. I think I need to go with a 14 here. I could imagine it being as high as a 15 or as low as an 11, but I'm going with 14. If I had to go strictly with the neat flavor, I'd probably lean toward 13.