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Vermutpedia

Rojo

Jerez

Red · Sweet

Canasta Vermouth

Williams & Humbert

Jerez , España

7.3 /10

Vermutpedia Score: 7.3/10

Int. Challenge:
9.5

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Overall impression

Vermouth Canasta was Williams & Humbert's first new-wave vermouth (2008) and remains a reference for the generous sweet Jerez style in a one-litre format. According to williams-humbert.com, it is built on Canasta wine — Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez aged together for six years in American oak butts under soleras and criaderas — aromatised with more than twenty extracts of flowers, fruits, roots, woods and barks. Juan José Mesa, the house enologist, describes it as brilliant amber, homogeneous and very pleasant on the palate. Declared sweet profile, 15% vol., Palomino and Pedro Ximénez grapes from Pago Balbaína and Carrascal (Jerez Superior). Gold medal and Best Vermouth Trophy at IWC 2022 (95 points). For Vermutpedia, Canasta is the accessible, powerful Jerez red that opened the door to modern Andalusian vermouth before drier references such as Pando blanco.

Nose and palate

The official tasting note details a blend of aromas extracted from macerating Canasta wine with fruits and plants that form a consistent whole. Among the declared aromatics are wormwood and sage; dried chamomile, hop, elderflower, saffron and clove flowers; star anise seeds, bitter orange peel, cardamom, coriander, fennel, mace, nutmeg and vanilla; angelica, calamus, gentian, elecampane, iris and turmeric roots; and woods such as Ceylon cinnamon, Calisaya quinine, pomegranate bark and quassia. On the palate it is low in acidity, sweet and slightly bitter despite the presence of bitter herbs — typical balance of generous Jerez vermouth. Round flavour, without harshness, with solera depth and spiced layers. Compared with dry Pando blanco, Canasta is opulent and oriented to sweet aperitivo; against Italian red vermouths, it brings PX, oloroso and Andalusian botany in a litre bottle.

How to serve it

Williams & Humbert recommends drinking it cold, alone or with ice; mixed with fruit juices; as the main ingredient in numerous cocktail recipes; an excellent aperitif in any format. The litre bottle invites shared table, classic vermut time with olives, pickles and preserves. It also works in Manhattan or Negroni when a sweeter, more Jerez-style red is sought than a standard Torino, though its natural vocation is the wide glass with ice and a slice of orange. Very cold service enhances the sweetness without dissolving the botanical complexity. For cooking and desserts, its body and residual sugar make it interesting in reductions, though Vermutpedia values it above all as a Jerez bodega aperitif in a family format.

Production context

Production: Canasta wine base (oloroso + PX, minimum six years in solera) + maceration with more than twenty aromatics listed on the official sheet. Palomino and Pedro Ximénez from Pago Balbaína and Carrascal; 15% vol., 1 L bottle; Jerez D.O. First W&H vermouth; followed by dry Pando blanco on Fino Pando. IWC 2022 awards: gold 95 pts and Best Vermouth Trophy. Enologist Juan José Mesa supervises the amber, sweet and balanced profile. For Vermutpedia, Canasta synthesises industrial-premium sweet Jerez red vermouth: Canasta solera, broad botany, litre format, generous aperitivo. Verifiable at williams-humbert.com/producto/vermouth-canasta/.

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