Carpano Antica Formula Vermouth - 100cl

Antonio Benedetto Carpano invented vermouth as we know it in Turin in 1786, fortifying local wine with wormwood and a battery of botanicals and giving the world its first great aperitif. Antica Formula is his original recipe, revived and bottled as a homage — and it remains the benchmark every other sweet vermouth is measured against. This is the litre bottle, which you'll be grateful for.

It's a rich, dark, almost brooding vermouth, built on a base of white wine but tasting anything but pale. Vanilla is the signature note, front and centre, layered over dried figs, bitter orange, saffron and a swirl of warm spice. At 16.5% it sits between a fortified wine and a spirit, and it drinks with real weight and length.

The nose is all vanilla and dried fruit, opulent and slightly savoury. The palate follows through — sweet but not sugary, with cocoa, marmalade and a herbal, faintly medicinal bitterness underneath that keeps it grown-up. The finish is long and warming, more like a good sherry than a mixer.

It's good enough to drink on its own, chilled, before a meal. But it also elevates every cocktail it touches — a Negroni or Manhattan made with Antica is a different, better drink.

How to Serve

Lightly chilled over ice with an orange twist as an aperitif. In cocktails, reach for it in a Negroni, Manhattan or Americano. Once open, keep it in the fridge and use within a couple of months.

Where to Drink It

The Connaught Bar in Mayfair for a Negroni that shows it off. Bar Termini in Soho for a vermouth on the rocks. Dukes Bar in St James's for a proper Martini's savoury cousin.

Food Pairings

Pour it chilled next to a plate of salumi and marinated olives — the vanilla and bitter orange play beautifully against the salt.