Haha, I just bought a bottle of the Contratto based on our mutual hatred of Noilly Prat, that swimming, stale, stewed 'olive' note put me off vermouth for years! The contratto is great, I had a few glasses on ice with a kumquat twist, it has a perfect bitterness which sticks to your tongue like a negroni should, but I find it still has an oregano note which stands out IMO too strongly in the negroni, and it's very sweet. Granted the oregano note isn't 'faux-Italian' like the other vermouths but more sprightly and herbal. So I tried this in a Rob Roy (unpeated) and it worked perfectly since the afterburn of the whisky merged with the oregano turning it into something else entirely, an almost piney freshness which goes up your nose! So top marks in that area, but I'm still searching for a sweet vermouth that really allows the gin to shine in a negroni. I'll have to try the Cocchi. I find M&R lets the gin through but its thin and just not great quality compared to other vermouths. So right now I'm using Sacred Spiced English vermouth because its something which I keep around (for drinking straight), it's incredibly rich with a lot of woody depth, not too sweet. An exceptional quality drink, but like the Antica I guess, once you've put it in a Negroni it kinda "makes" the negroni due to its richness, and the other ingredients taste like more of an afterthought. Also, I'm now using Sacred's Rosehip Cup instead of Campari in my Negronis. I think it was designed partly in order to replace the Campari in a Negroni, and like Campari it contains orange peel and rhubarb along with a bunch of other botanicals... I know that some view the Campari as the 'constant' in a Negroni, but I see it as a weak link in many ways, since it is hard to swap out for a 'better' Campari. Let's face it, I'm sure the original Campari was more interesting than the garish coloured drink of today. I even heard that Gran Classico is closer the original Campari, but I saw earlier in the thread that it gives a completely different flavour and viscous texture to the drink. I find that the bitterness of the Rosehip Cup mimics that of Campari very well, it hits the 'negroni' point in the spectrum even though it isn't quite as bitter as the Campari, so perhaps a mix of the two is called for, or a more bitter vermouth. I will investigate... Another thing, kumquats and physalis fruit work well along with the orange twist, their flavour is so similar it simply expands the profile of the orange - it doesn't taste like there is anything other than orange in there, just a very, very good orange!
