After finishing that first proper batch of forty bottles with Faye and Devil’s Dyke Distillery, the story took another slightly unexpected turn.

I disappeared to South Africa for a few weeks.

We’re incredibly lucky to be able to travel as much as we do, but the timing suddenly made things complicated. The Business Leaders Wine Club launch event was approaching fast, and for a while it looked like I might not actually be able to attend my own launch party.

To make matters worse, I was due to travel to Manchester the day after returning from South Africa – on exactly the same date as the event.

For a while it seemed inevitable that I’d miss it. I briefed Karl and Faye on everything they needed to say about Vermouth Actually in my absence and prepared myself for the strange reality of launching a drink I wouldn’t even be present to pour.

Thankfully, once again, the stars aligned as my Manchester commitment moved back by a day.

Which meant that the day after returning from South Africa, and the day before heading to Manchester, we sandwiched in the launch of Vermouth Actually – 19th November 2025.

The event itself was a Business Leaders Wine Club evening for an intimate group of around 25-30 people. It took place in the Plotting Parlour, one of Brighton’s most respected cocktail bars – a beautiful, moody venue where the team take cocktails and ingredients extremely seriously – the perfect setting.

The evening was brilliant. Being able to tell the story of Vermouth Actually to such a warm and curious group of people was incredibly special. One by one, people came over to my ice bucket to taste it for the first time.

Experiencing their reactions was unforgettable. Creating something you personally find delicious is one thing. Seeing other people respond to it in exactly the same way is something else entirely.

It was a huge moment.

On top of the tastings, the Plotting Parlour team had taken a couple of bottles of my vermouth earlier in the month to experiment with a welcome drink for the event. After tasting the vermouth they decided to pair it with gin (and of course Campari) to create a unique house Negroni.

And it was excellent. So excellent, in fact, that the manager at the Plotting Parlour decided they wanted to put it on the bar’s Christmas menu. They bought several bottles from me that very evening. And just like that, the “Negroni Actually” was born!!

Yes – a slightly surreal moment – my very first sale was to one of the best cocktail bars in Brighton. The vermouth was sitting on the shelf of a serious cocktail bar before I had made a single consumer sale. The stuff of dreams.

A few days later the neighbouring bar R Bar also picked it up, and suddenly Vermouth Actually was dominating the Brighton seafront. (At least, that’s how I like to think about it!)

One of my favourite moments came not long afterwards. After dinner with a few friends we walked into R Bar and I was able to order my own vermouth from behind the bar. Admittedly the server took a little while to find it – I’m not sure they’d sold a great deal up to that point – but still – THAT was a pretty special feeling.

And in many ways, that was the moment Vermouth Actually truly came into existence.

After the launch party I made a single post on LinkedIn about the project. By the end of the week, all forty bottles had sold out, and I can’t thank those early supporters enough.

What an adventure it has already been!