Noilley Pratt!

Hi Julian. So what does this mean. (I'm a transplant here, so I'm up for a lesson!). Thanks.

+Don LaVange Yes indeed. Noilly Prat is much more elegant and distinguished. +Mary Trigiani Vya is a boutique drinks producer in California. They make a couple of Vermouth. I've got a bottle of Sacred Gin which is a boutique gin from N London with the faintest hint of Frankincense. Sacred + Noilly 6:1 stirred for 40 secs makes an awesome and complex Martini. But the Vya Dry has too much flavour and overpowers the gin. And I'm afraid that's common to a lot of booze from California. They tend to go in for big and unsubtle flavours. eg Chardonnay with too much oak. It would probably work with a big and unsubtle gin like Tanquaray or Beefeater 24. Having said all that, Vya Sweet red works very well in a Manhatten with something like Woodford Reserve. It's comparable to Byrrh and the big complex flavours work well with the aggression of the bourbon.

So there you have it. My favourite Martinis
- Sacred + Noilly Prat
- Miller Westbourne + Noilly Prat

BTW. Sacred is too good for a plain old G&T unless you can find a bottle of 1724 Tonic. It's one of the few gins that's actually worth drinking just with a little ice cold water to dilute it a bit.

Julian, this is so great to know. I'm generally a Beefeater martini person, and if that's not available, always gin. Thanks to you, I've found a descriptor for my preference: a big gin.

Have you tried No. 209, made here in San Francisco? It's a bit more subtle, but you still know you're drinking gin. http://www.distillery209.com/

I need to expand my horizons. I'm usually drinking Tanqueray.

There's a huge spirits renaissance going on with all sorts of boutique distilleries cropping up. And it's not just Gin but things like Tequila as well. I don't know the Californian gins well but there's a whole bunch turning up in the UK. And not just spirits, but things we'd forgotten like Sherry as well.

I don't want to make too much of it, because I'm really not that much of a connoisseur, but I've been on a mission in the last few years to find the very best of a whole set of consumables. With Brandy, Claret and champagne, that gets seriously expensive. But you can treat yourself to a single fine cigar from Fox's, or Paul Young chocs or cheese from Paxton and Whitfield, or a 100g of Jamon Iberico, or some fresh ground coffee from the Algerian coffee shop in Soho without breaking the bank.

amen