Country of origin: Italy
Alcohol content: 16.5% ABV

Antonio Benedetto Carpano is credited with the creation of the first modern vermouth at his Turin shop in 1786. Italian white grape varieties from the Romagna, Puglia, and Sicily regions are used to form the base wine which is combined with multifarious botanical infusions and caramelised sugar according to Carpano’s antique formula. Antica Formula stands out for its unique and unmistakable notes of high quality vanilla from the tropical regions of Madagascar, Papua New Guinea and Tahiti.

A well-rounded, rich vanilla taste mingles with raisin, cloves, cassia, bitter orange, and saffron. Notes of caramel, bay leaves, chocolate, and coffee. A full-bodied, intense recreation of an antique formula from Milan, this sweet vermouth is certainly among the richest of its category.

Use whenever an italian, sweet, rosso, or red vermouth is called for. Particularly when paired with rich dark spirits such as in a Manhattan.

About

The story starts in Turin in 1786 when Antonio Benedetto Carpano, following a period in which he studied to be a herbalist, invented the formula which was to give rise to the category of Vermouth products, by combining herbs and spices with muscatel. Carpano’s wine shop was situated just opposite the Royal Palace and, confident of the appeal of his new product, he sent a crate of Vermouth to King Vittorio Amedeo III. The king took such an immediate liking to the drink and he adopted it as one of the royal household.

The Carpano wine shop became the city’s focal attraction and in 1820, Giuseppe Bernardino Carpano, Antonio’s nephew, decided to give his venture a legal structure by establishing the "Fabbrica di Liquori e Vermut Giuseppe Carpano, già ditta Marendazzo e Com.ia, sotto i portici di Piazza Castello al n. 21”. Between 1840 and 1888 Carpano’s reputation grew and a glass of Carpano became the aperitif par excellence and Turin’s favourite drink.

n 2001 Fratelli Branca Distillerie aquired Carpano. This acquisition enabled the Milanese company to increase its products portfolio in line with the excellence and quality that have always characterised Branca policies—never losing sight of the past and its own traditions.