La Quintinye Vermouth Royal Rouge is a blend of red Pineau des Charentes and 28 different botanicals, creating an exciting and quite intense vermouth. Named in honour of Jean-Baptiste de la Quintinye, botanist and gardener to Louis XIV, whom was in charge of assembling the fruit, vegetables and most importantly (well, with vermouth in mind) the herbs for the King's banquets.
Sweetness comes through first, brimming with cherries and berries. This is balanced by earthy, bitter herbs - sage, rosemary, pepper.
A palate that matches the nose. Sweet at first, fruits and well, followed by plenty of fresh herbs and spices with some added woodiness for good measure.
Drying and herbal with leafy notes and a whiff of dark berries.
Very rich and attention-grabbing.
As well as adding gifts to lucky MoM orders, #WhiskySanta is granting wishes on social media every day! Hit the button above and let them know what you'd like. It could be yours!
Absolutely sublime
The Pineau des Charentes base gives this a woody depth that is unique among vermouths that I've tried, as is the complexity of the fruit bouquet. For my taste, this is a bit too sweet (like Pineau des Charentes itself) and lacks in up-front bitterness* to be good as an aperitif, but it's delicious as a dessert wine and in cocktails -- I can't imagine a better pairing with bourbon in a Manhattan. For any use of sweet vermouth where the focus is on the fruit dimension more than the bittering agents, you'd be hard-pressed to top this. *although, as "The Chaps" say, it does have a nice, herbal, lingering bitterness
