NV Cocchi Americano

Community Tasting Notes (11) Avg Score: 90.6 points

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  2/10/2024 - Rote Kappelle Likes this wine: 92 Points

  I had been trying to track this down for a few years after reading it is said to be the closest thing to the old Kina Lillet (now out of production), one of the 4 key ingredients to that most smashing of all cocktails, the Vesper Martini (Gin, Vodka and a mighty liver being the others).
  
  Lillet is available and is good in its own right, but the Lillet we get now is not the same as Kina Lillet, apparently.
  
  One might argue that Dry Vermouth is Dry Vermouth, but in a drink like the Vesper this is most certainly not so. I like a relatively neutral Gin in my Vesper, or one with some lemony aspects. 3 parts of a muted Gin and a part of Vodka means that even though it is only a half part of DV that is used, this drink is actually very much about the DV. In this, it is different to a very, or even a dry Martini, which is all about the Gin. This is really a version of a wet Martini, which also tends to be largely about the DV.
  
  Like the Lillet available these days, Cocchi has a rather unctuous mouthfeel (the mouthfeel makes for a good combination with Tanqueray, or Tanq 10) and rich, almost sweet grapiness. I also get a touch of vanilla and the whole is cut with the most splendid bitterness. Finish is long as hell, almost as long as the list of films in the tedious James Bond franchise, but infinitely more pleasurable.
  
  The Vesper is a splendid thing, a cocktail for the mind, very refreshing, unless one uses the full measure for a part, in which case one is struggling through about 120ml of spirit and at that point it becomes more about mindlessness. Miles Davis Sketches of Spain or Kind of Blue are the obvious musical accompaniment.
  
  For me, this does make a superior Vesper. Whether it is closer to the original recipe than one using Lillet as available now is, I think a moot point, because the Gordon's Gin made then is also different.

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  9/15/2022 - henrygjeffreys Likes this wine:

  Touch of anissed on the nose, plus apples
  Lovely fruit, bitter, sweet balance.

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  6/25/2021 - cos65 Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Yellow gold, fairly sweet, but not syrupy.
  Nice acidity and gorgeous bitterness and gentian tones

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  2/14/2021 - cos65 Likes this wine:

  Yellow gold.
  Fairly sweet but not cloying, nice acidity and bitterness. Very botanical, strongest on rosemary.

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  8/8/2015 - Guy Des Rosiers Likes this wine: 87 Points

  Wonderful vermouth nose - like Martini Bianco on steroids. Sweet but not cloying, with high-toned herbs and botanicals and a refreshing, distinctly bitter finish. If you are using this in a Manhattan, you can skip (or cut down on) the bitters. Long length.

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View all 11 Community Tasting Notes

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