Happy Negroni Week! Made with one part gin, one part vermouth rosso, one part Campari, garnish with an orange peel, the Negroni is one of the most classic of gin cocktails around.

The drink was created around 1919 in Florence, Italy, at Caffe Rivoire, which makes it 100 years old this year. Legend has it, an Italian noble named Count Camillo Negroni was a regular at the bar, and often ordered the Americano, which is made with equal parts sweet vermouth, Campari and soda water.

Then one day, Count Negroni asked the bartender, Fosco Scarselli, to make him a stronger version of the Americano. The bartender decided to take out the soda completely, and replace it with gin., and a classic cocktail was born (he added the orange slice as a garnish so people could tell it was different from the Americano, which is garnished with a lemon twist).

Soon, more and more patrons to the bar started ordering the drink, referring to it as ‘Negroni’s drink’, and the name ‘Negroni’ stuck.

Every year for an entire week, bars all over the world pay tribute to this classic cocktail by hyping it up at their bars and donating a portion of the proceeds from each Negroni sold to charity. The Negroni Week initiative was created by Imbibe Magazine in 2013, and this year, it takes place from June 24 to 30, with 39 outlets in Malaysia taking part.

Now, we may not have a bar to sell Negronis from (yet), but we do have everything you need to make a great Negroni at home. Well, almost everything – you’ll need to get your oranges somewhere else.

But garnish aside, we have all the other the ingredients for a Negroni right here in Wholly Spirits Retail.

Here’s what you can get from our store:

Gin. Lots of gin:

Our store currently stocks more than 40 gin brands, so you’re spoilt for choice here. But if a Negroni is what you’re looking to make, you’d want a gin that has a good, bold flavours from the botanicals, and not too soft or subtle in nature.

A London dry gin often works well, but here are a couple of gins that we feel REALLY stand out in that cocktail.

Eiling Lim Galangal: Eiling makes her gins with Malaysian flavours, and this particular gin has gingery, spicy galangal notes that really stand out in heavy-flavoured cocktails like the Negroni, and adds a little spicy contrast to the sweet notes of the sweet vermouth and the bitter of the Campari.

The West Winds Cutlass: A gin that incorporates natural Australian botanicals, The Cutlass is a 50% ABV gin that contains bush tomato flavours, which lends a savoury note to the cocktail, and also gives it extra body and oomph.

As the Wholly Molly Promo Highlight of the Month, we are please to offer a 15% discount on The Cutlass for the entire month of June. And that’s not all: get a 15% discount off a case of East Imperial Tonic Water (24 bottles) with any purchase of a gin at Wholly Spirits Retail!

Other recommended gins that go great in a Negroni are:

• Fords Gin
• Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin
• Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin (makes it 

Campari:

You can’t have a Negroni without Campari. It was in Fosco Scarselli’s original recipe after all.

This classic Italian amaro is essential in making a Negroni, as it not only lends the drink its signature blood red colour, but also adds adds the bitterness that balances out the sweet vermouth influences, allowing the gin a chance to shine.

Campari is available at Wholly Spirits as well.

Sweet Vermouth:

We’re not sure what vermouth Fosco Scarselli used to make the first Negroni, but there can be no doubt that it was an Italian sweet vermouth, or ‘rosso’. Fortunately, we also have an Italian vermouth at Wholly Spirits Retail: Mancino Rosso Vermouth.

Inspired by renowned Italian bartender Giancarlo Mancino, this is an exceptional artisanal Vermouth di Torino blended with the finest ingredients to create an original, yet classic vermouth that is perfect as a main or supporting ingredient in any cocktail, modern or classic.

We also recommend the equally excellent Dolin Rogue Vermouth, a French Vermouth de Chambéry, a vermouth that can only be produced within France’s Savoy region, and using the maceration of real plants rather than pre-prepared infusions.

The Dolin Rogue lends a slightly drier note to the Negroni compared to the Mancino, which gives the drink a completely new dimension.

For inquiries, Whatsapp us at 012-5805813. Our opening hours are 12pm-9pm daily.