Gin Thread!

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I was intrigued by the idea of a Martini a few years ago, I never really liked them though, they were good but didn't taste much different than gin on the rocks. The reason being that thanks to Alton Brown I was basically making cold gin with an olive in it. A few weeks ago I stumbled across a website touting a classic martini, and man what a difference. Vermouth isn't some caustic chemical only to be added so that you can say you're technically not drinking a glass of stirred gin, it's an integral park of the cocktail, who knew? I had a few the other night and they just kept getting better and better.

Unfortunately I'm pretty sure there are only 3 types of Gin in the whole state (Not counting the big plastic Jug), Tangueray, Bombay, and Beefeater. The only Vermouth I've found is Martini & Rossi. Is there a large enough variation in Vermouth for me to go out and try to find something different, or is Martini & Rossi pretty much the standard?