Today is another day worth celebrating, it is World Vermouth Day. It was created by Giancarlo Mancino to celebrate this particular type of fortified wine. Vermouth is an aromatized fortified wine, flavored with various botanicals (herbs, bark and roots). The name comes from wermut, the German word for wormwood. The vermouth as we know it today originated in the Italian city of Turin in the late 18th century and was made popular by the Italian distiller Antonio Benedetto Carpano. In fact, his vermouth was so popular that his shop was said to have been open around the clock.

A great way to celebrate is to make an Algonquin created sometime during the 1920s at the Algonquin Hotel in New York.

The Algonquin
2 parts Rye Whiskey
1 part Dry Vermouth
1 part Pineapple juice
1 Maraschino cherry

Shake all ingredients with ice. Strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with a Maraschino cherry.