Tanqueray is one of the world’s oldest London Dry Gin brands. In recent years the iconic gin has been featured in several quite excellent RTDs. Their Tanqueray Negroni Cocktail is bottled at 24.9% ABV. It features a bitter liqueur— not Campari— and Vermouth. Curiously it contains walnuts and is colored with both caramel and other natural colors.
Tasting notes
We tasted Tanqueray Negroni Cocktail chilled in the fridge at 37°F
Color: Carmine and transparent
Aroma: Slightly nutty, a slight impression peanut butter and cherry jam. The gin is quiet on the nose, while the bitter and vermouth shine. Overall, it’s not dissimilar from a stirred Negroni you might make at home.
Flavor: Sweet, red vermouth early— it reminds me of Dolin Rouge— dried cherries, a hint of cinnamon and orange zest. Mid-palate there’s a bright juniper note. I’m not sure it’s clearly Tanqueray, but it does have a beautiful and clear classic gin profile. Later, a nuttiness, with some dark cherry and apricot.
Finish: Mildly and pleasantly sweet with dried cherry and citrus peel.
Overall, Tanqueray Negroni
As with many RTD Negronis, fans of the cocktail will have to get past that absence of Campari. The bitter in Tanqueray Negroni is good, but it is not Campari.
However, if you stop there, you’ll be missing out.
Tanqueray has created an ideal companion bitter and vermouth. It marries nicely with the gin. Juniper is the dominant gin flavor. You will miss some of the nuance that makes Tanqueray so distinctive on its own.
But overall this drink is less about its parts and more about its sum. Tanqueray Negroni is a solid RTD in-the-style-of a Negroni. Fans of the cocktail, and fans of London Dry Gin will like a lot about this well balanced, if not exactly by-the book cocktail
Highly recommended.