United States of Vermouth - Uncouth Vermouth Butternut Squash

 

Origin: New York, USA

Producer: Uncouth Vermouth

ABV: 17%
Wine Base: N/A

Known Botanicals: Mugwort, Butternut Squash

Sugar: N/A

Look – Light, slightly glowing, transparent yellow, almost the color of chrysanthemum tea

Nose – A big nose that has notes of vanilla, rose-like floral overtones

Mouth – A lightly sweet plum fruitiness builds with vegetal overtones, which turns into a slightly tannic slope and quick downturn into a moderately harsh bitterness, leaving a long tea-like dryness

Wunderkind Bianca Miraglia hit the vermouth scene in 2013 with her novel vermouths, her meme-ish presence, and a good buzz around her iconoclastic, American take on what vermouth could be. She crashed and burned in due time and now apparently is living a simpler life in upstate New York, tending to her own garden. Her Uncouth Vermouth Butternut Squash is an interesting, if not all that accessible experiment. How and why the butternut squash makes its presence felt is debatable. Beyond that, this vermouth has presence with strong scents and big herbs. The kind of stuff I like. But there is a slightly off-putting edge toward the end of the taste that makes it the sort of thing that one might not want to return to, let alone continue with. It might work well, very well, with an equally complex whiskey in something Manhattan-like. On its own, it’s a bit, a lot, overbearing. However, her experimentations helped open up a whole new world of aromatized wine that is now moving toward something more elegant, more beguiling, more drinkable.

Scale: 1-5

Taste

Wood / Vanilla 3

Bitter - 3

Alcohol 4

Sweet 3

Creamy 2

Caramel 3

Aromas

Spicy 4

Astringent (barks, roots) 4

Vegetal / Herbal 4

Balsamic 0

Floral 2

Fruity 2