On 2013-08-10 16:00:56 +0000, Michael Press said:

> In article >,
> notbob > wrote:
>
>> On 2013-08-10, Michael Press > wrote:
>>
>>> The short answer is Dolin vermouth.
>>
>> Never tried the sweet Dolin, but would like to. The dry Dolin is
>> weird enough. I stumbled across it in one liquor store and bought a
>> bottle. OMG! It's what? .....angel's breath? ...elf tears? Very
>> stange brew. Gaggingly sweet for a dry Vermouth but the aroma was
>> ethereal. I didna' see any sweet, but will ask. I'm totally curious.
>
> You seem to be describing the blanco, not the dry; at
> least that is my experience. Hard to describe the dry
> as very sweet whereas the blanco is surprisingly sweet.

Right. The "extra dry" is just as bitter and nasty as the M&R "extra dry".

> The blanco has a complex and pleasant melange of aromas
> in accord with your experience. The rouge for manhattans
> is about as sweet as any rouge and no more with, again,
> a complex variety of aromas and the kind of herb
> bitterness we that typifies red vermouths.

I think blanco/dry vermouths aren't at their best alone, just like gin,
but tempered by other things. Yes, the blancos are sweet, as are the
rossos. So is sugar and simple syrup, but nobody uses them alone either.

Recently I've taken to drinking blanco with soda water and ice.