No dry Martini (gin of course) is complete without a splash of my favorite dry vermouth Noilly Prat. I was lucky enough to visit the distillery (the recipe dates back to 1813) in Marseillan France this summer.
Noilly Prat discovered that the barrels of vermouth that made their way on ship decks to the Caribbean just got better over the voyage. Seems sea air and sunshine works wonders on vermouth. Now all their production is barrel aged the same way at the current distillery.
The 19th century cooperage.
Of course I have become obsessed with Noilly Prat once I have visited their distillery and I have been lucky enough to find a bunch of their cafe bottles and ashtrays in the many French flea markets I visit. I have not tried the Americano Dry advertised here yet with my fave, Campari but rest assured I will. Cheers.