Best Brands of Vermouth

If you were to ask me if I'd ever had the bad luck to miss my daily cocktail, I'd have to say that I doubt it; where certain things are concerned, I plan ahead.~ Luis Bruñuel
If you're the cocktail party kind of a person and prefer organizing sophisticated and classy social gatherings instead of those noisy beer fests, then you probably take pains to select and stock different varieties of vermouth brands, to suit the mood of different cocktails in your bar. Those of you who are still strangers to the stimulating experience of vermouth taking your gustatory and olfactory receptors on a sensuous escapade, must be wondering what is vermouth.
Well, a vermouth is a fortified wine which is flavored with a number of herbs and spices which may include cardamom, cinnamon, marjoram and chamomile. There are three styles of vermouth, based upon the degree of sweetness or dryness, that are available - extra dry, bianco/white, and sweet/red. The red varieties are mostly known as Italian vermouth whereas the white varieties are given a French connection.
A good cocktail is the result of mixing the rest of the ingredients with some of the best vermouth brands available - anything short of that doesn't quite match up with fine experience associated with a classy cocktail.
For those who have just embarked upon this ecstatic journey of martinis and cocktails, it is even more difficult to decide which vermouth brand to go for. Imagine yourself standing in a classy wine store, surrounded by attractive bottles containing liquors of many colors. Now selecting the best from that lot could be a taxing job.
Therefore, to make things a tad easier for you, here's a list of some of the best vermouth brands that you can try out till you have settled for a particular preference.
Martini: This is one of the most prominent and highly regarded Italian vermouth brands and the brand is named after the company and distillery that makes it - Martini & Rossi Distilleria Nazionale di Spirito di Vin, situated in Turin, Italy. A wide variety of vermouths are available under the Martini vermouth brand including the following:-
Martini Rosato
Martini Rosso
Martini Extra Dry
Martini Bianco
Martini Gold by Dolce & Gabbana
Among these, the Rosato is one of the best sweet vermouth brands with refreshing undertones of spice and a subtle hint of fruity zing. The Martini Extra Dry is one of the best dry vermouth brands that comes from this vintage vermouth distiller and it was launched on the occasion of New Year in 1900.
Noilly Prat: This vermouth brand is perhaps the best representative of all French vermouth brands and it comes from Marseillan commune from the Hérault département which is situated in southern France.
The brand is at present a part of the Bacardi-Martini family and it was acquired in 1971 by Martini & Rossi. Noilly Prat is a dry vermouth brand and it vis characterized by its straw shade and palate-teasing, fruity undertones. It's recipe was first developed by Joseph Noilly, a herbalist, in 1813. This dry vermouth brand has 18% alcohol by volume.
Two more variants of Noilly Prat vermouth are available - Red Noilly Prat and Ambre Noilly Prat. The former contains 30 distinct flavoring agents which impart it the signature rich red hues that identify it. The latter is available only at the Noilly Prate shop which is situated in Marseillan.
Another good vermouth brand is Boissiere and this is one of the good dry vermouth brands. Therefore, going by the above discussion of vermouth brands, the verdict goes in favor of Martini as it has a wider variety of vermouth styles under its name.
However, Noilly Prat has some very good dry vermouth varieties to its credit and most martini connoisseurs vouch by the class it imparts to the most basic martini recipe. If you're new to cocktails and martini, I would suggest you try both these brands and take your own call. After all, individual preferences depend upon individual tastes! I'd raise a toast to that - cheers!