Padró & Co. Reserva Especial Vermouth

Reserva Especial is Padró & Co.'s answer to a question they'd been circling for generations: what happens if you treat vermouth with the same patience as a great sherry?

The base is a solera wine with long history at the winery, into which a small amount of Tarragona Clásico-style sweet liqueur wine is blended — itself aged five years in 7,000-litre oak vats.

Add the house's vermouth herbs, then let the whole thing rest for at least 18 months in sherry casks, and you get a vermouth built for sipping slowly: dried fig, roasted hazelnut and cocoa, with a long, warming finish.

This is the bottle for guests who already love an oloroso or a PX.

Nose: Powerful aromas from prolonged ageing: dried figs, roasted hazelnuts and green walnuts.

Mouth: Warm and rich, giving way to sweet sensations of liquorice and medicinal herbs, with a bitter tang.

Grape Variety

Macabeu (Viura) and Xarel·lo

Barrel Ageing

18–20 months — Sherry Oak Solera, finished with a Tarragona Clásico-style sweet liqueur wine aged 5 years in 7,000L oak vats

ABV / Size

18% ALC./VOL. · 750ml

Flavour Profile

The most complex bottle in the range — for guests who already love sherry or dessert wine

On its own, lightly chilled, or over a single large ice cube. This one does not need a garnish.

VEGETARIAN

Breadsticks or flatbreads, salted crisps or nuts, cheese twists or blue cheese, roasted peppers, spinach croquetas, green olives

MEAT

Pork sausage with cayenne pepper, smoked meats, ham croquetas

FISH

Marinated mussels, calamari rings, anchovy fillets, sardines

SIGNATURE TAPA

Roasted red peppers with white anchovy fillets

Beermouth — 80ml Reserva Especial topped with 250ml craft lager (the house's easiest, most sessionable serve)

• Gold Medal — Spirits Selection by Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2016
• 95 points — Tastings International Review of Spirits
• 91 points — Peñín Spirits & Cocktails Guide
• Grand Gold Vinari — Best Vermouth, Vinari Catalan Vermouth Awards 2018
• Gold Medal — Catavinum World Wine & Spirits Competition 2017
• Gold Mezquita — Best Vermouth 2019, Córdoba Mezquita Awards
• Silver Medal — International Wine & Spirit Competition 2017