Vermouth gets its characteristic taste from Artemisia (wormwood), an ingredient that, according to regulations, is crucial for it to be considered a vermouth.

The saffron is imported from Iran and vanilla beans are flown in from as far afield as Madagascar, the use of vanilla aiding digestion as well as adding a creaminess and roundness to the vermouth. We believe that the best way to enjoy this, initially at least, is to grab yourself a short glass, a few ice cubes and pour over. With a bold, yet rich sweet structure, delivering a truly exquisite complexity to a classic Manhattan.From its amaranth and brilliant color with highlights of amber, to the nose a bouquet of vanilla emerges which comes together with notes of spices, citrus and dried fruits like raisins and cloves. And partnered with gins, choose something big and robust as the Antica Formula will probably overpower it anyway. It’s the main ingredient in cocktails such as Negroni, Americano or Hanky Panky, offered in the most exclusive restaurants and bars in Italy and worldwide. Also sign me up for newsletters so I can get special offers, recommendations, and expert advice to my inbox! An incredibly good red vermouth which was originally used to make the Martinez (the grandfather of the martini).

This “nectar of the gods” is characterized in the taste and aroma made from an selected infusion of mountain herbs and spices, one of which is saffron. Vermouth is known to have been prepared by old civilisations, including the Romans, under the name Absinthiatum (or Absinthianum) vinum.

Antica Formula was created by Antonio Benedetto Carpano, the inventor of Vermouth, in 1786 in Turin, Italy. As the flavours all rebalance around the whiskey in my Manhattan, the medicinal nose is still there.