9 di Dante Inferno Rosso Vermouth 750ml

9diDANTE was founded by Alex Ouziel, who developed the brand alongside Mario Baralis, a master blender who spent decades safeguarding the original Carpano and Antica Formula recipes before the company was sold in 1996. Drawing on Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, Ouziel built the line around the poet's journey through the nine circles of Hell, first bottling Inferno Rosso in 2019. The vermouth is produced in small batches of 6,666 bottles at the Dr. M. Montanaro Distillery near Alba, a historic house credited with creating Italy's first mono-varietal grappa in 1885.

Inferno Rosso is classified as Vermouth di Torino Superiore, an IGP designation requiring production in Piedmont from mostly local wines. The base is an equal blend of red Dolcetto, chosen for its deep color and tannin, and white Cortese, which lends acidity and freshness. Twenty-seven botanicals go into the recipe, nine of which were selected to represent each circle of Dante's Inferno, including wormwood for Limbo, cardamom for Lust, and caraway for Treachery, with no charcoal filtering or caramel coloring used.

The result pours a deep ruby red, with a fruity nose of red berries, cherry, and orange. The palate brings vanilla, baking spice, and citrus, with a light bitterness on the finish that keeps the sweetness from overwhelming its herbal complexity.