Vermouth, you think of it as the backbone of a classic Martini or the beloved Manhattan. So why is a cocktail shotgun rider being offered up by WA? Well, vermouth is actually a wine. Back in the day, wine could be, ahem, improved, so they added extra flavoring to the base, medicinal “aromatics” like herbs, bark, roots, and spices. And so vermouth went on to become what it is today, a European aperitif enjoyed over ice or a cocktail mixer.

Most of the vermouth you’ll come across is French or Italian and made with wormwood (Artemisia), but we’ve discovered Rockwell, an American brand that foraged for Artemisia Californica – wormwood’s cousin — in the Carmel Valley hillsides to create the perfect American vermouth. Their Classic Sweet bottle has all those sweet spicy and earthy flavors, but because of their hyper-local Cali Artemisia, it’s more aromatic than traditional wormwood-based vermouths. And this delicious, New World-style can only be described as a Rockwell. Are you ready to don your smoking jacket and sip on the best Manhattan you’ve ever made?