Timbal Rosso Vermouth
About Timbal Rosso Vermouth
This well rounded and wormwood-forward sweet red vermouth has earned great admiration. Its easy style is ideal for the Catalan tradition of the ‘vermouth hour’, enjoying a glass on the rocks with olives. Timbal Sweet Red also marries beautifully with rye or bourbon, revealing notes of baking spices. In Spain this is known as Timbal Vermut de Reus Sweet Red. The town of Reus (near to Tarragona in Catalonia) is the historic epicenter for vermouth production in Spain, where for over a century the producer Miró has set the benchmark for its wormwood-forward style.
Tasting Notes for Timbal Rosso Vermouth
Fragrant with scents of orange peel, baking spices and dried fruit. Juicy cherry and raspberry flavors play against bitter gentian, cloves and cinnamon for a complex yet fresh medium-bodied palate with softly tannic texture.
Suggested Serves
- For the Catalan tradition of the ‘hora del vermut’, Timbal Sweet Red is served over ice with two olives and an orange slice in the glass, and usually accompanied by bowls of olives and potato chips. That’s right: a wine traditionally served with potato chips!
- Add tonic and lemon peel for a spicier take
- With whiskey, Timbal’s spice notes are very welcome, and this vermouth adds weight and texture without the distraction of vanilla. Pair with high-toned whiskeys, such as Wild Turkey
- Suppressor #1766
- 1.5 ounces Timbal Rosso Vermouth
- 0.75 ounce amontillado sherry
- 0.75 ounce St. George NOLA coffee liqueur
- 2 dashes Regan’s orange bitters
- Method: Build in a Collins glass filled with ice. Top with tonic water and stir. Garnish with lemon peel.
Production Notes
Birthplace of Antoni Gaudí, the provincial city of Reus lies an hour southwest along the Mediterranean coast from Barcelona, in Tarragona. A market hub, it rose to prominence when the phylloxera scourge struck France and demand for Catalan wine exploded. By 1900, the expression ‘Paris, London and Reus’ denoted the epicenters of the contemporary wine trade, and it was from these roots that Reus evolved to become a center of vermouth production to rival that of Torino and Chambéry. Prior to the outset of the Spanish Civil War, there were some thirty firms producing vermut in Reus alone. Today, Vermut de Reus is amidst a second renaissance, and the Spanish passion for la hora del vermut (‘vermouth hour’) shows no sign of abating. The wines retain a distinctly Catalan character, and can be made in either a primary or lightly oxidative style. While *seco* (extra dry) and *blanco* are produced, it is the *rojo* (sweet red)-style that is still the staple of patrons at every vermuteria.
500ml & 30 Proof
