Shaken or Stirred ?

Vermouth, loved by mothers, fathers, sons, daughters and of course... international spies.

BUT, how much love is the quietly rising English Vermouth receiving from our trusty agents?

In 2010 when Ian Hart, a distiller from Sacred Gin, became inspired by the sudden rise in popularity of the old school favourite Negroni, he soon launched his modern take on the old classic... Sacred's very own English Spiced Vermouth (2010) which was shortly followed by their Dry Amber Vermouth (2012). The story goes that Ian being the clever pea he was, decided to take his fabulous bottle of booze to 'Alessandro Palazzi' who was the head bartender at Dukes Hotel, London. As guests fell in love with the combination of Ian's and Alessandro's beautiful Martini, so did the rest of the world. Duke's Hotel is now world-famous for their martini and I think that deserves a round of applause don't you!

As with many things, we tend to like to keep up with the ever changing trends, so naturally the demand for English Vermouth rose significantly. We began to see more distillers becoming involved in the creation of their own English vermouth ranges, such as ‘Blackdown Artisan Spirits – Silver Birch’ from West Sussex in 2013, ‘Bramley & Gage – Sweet & Dry Vermouths’ from Gloucestershire in 2014, ‘The Collector’ from Bristol and ‘Twisted Nose’ from Winchester both launched in 2015.

From 2017 onwards, we have seen 25 more English Vermouths produced across England, Scotland and Wales, each with their own individual flare.

Funnily enough, the UK began producing its Vermouth around the same time that the German ‘Belsazar Vermouth’ and Australian ‘Regal Rogue’ found its way into the UK market. They boasted an inexpensive, modern, aromatic and unique style of Vermouth that greatly helped the shift in popularity of Vermouth in the UK around this time.

As we all know, Gin has taken off over the last 10 years. With wineries and distillers small and large making a huge range of gins and with import and exports booming there is no doubt that the Gin market is becoming or has become slightly ‘oversaturated’. Many producers will find that English Vermouth will be a great way to stay creative but add diversity to their alcohol range. Mixing the popular botanicals that are sought after by the gin enthusiasts and the beautiful wine bases of the fast growing English Wine scene our clever winemakers have delicately incorporate into this wonderful drink, English Vermouth could and very much should become ever more popular.

So folks, peel those eyes because EV is on the move...

Stay tipsy x

Lu