Matchbook Distilling Eldest Daughter Vermouth

Matchbook Distilling Eldest Daughter Vermouth is a dry vermouth from Matchbook Distilling Co. in Greenport, on the North Fork of Long Island, New York — a small distillery that works like a research lab, building spirits around farms and seasons rather than fixed recipes. Eldest Daughter, released in June 2024, starts with biodynamic Pinot Gris grapes from Keeler Estate Vineyard in Oregon: half the wine is distilled in-house into eau de vie, infused with elderflowers picked locally at Briermere Farms on the North Fork, and used to fortify the remaining wine. Dried Timur peppercorns — a citrusy Himalayan relative of the Sichuan peppercorn, sourced from Rare Tea Cellar — supply the botanical spark. Bottled at 19% ABV in a 750mL bottle. Crisp, floral and dry, it is summer in a bottle. It is available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor.

• Proof / ABV: 19% ABV
• Size: 750mL
• Base: Biodynamic Pinot Gris wine and Pinot Gris eau de vie (Keeler Estate Vineyard, Oregon)
• Botanicals: Local elderflower (Briermere Farms, North Fork) and Timur peppercorn
• Style: Dry vermouth, released June 2024
• Origin: Matchbook Distilling Co., Greenport, New York, USA

A Vermouth Built Like a Distiller's Notebook

Matchbook is not a brand factory — it is an alternative-timetable distillery that develops custom spirits around agriculture, and Eldest Daughter is its botany project: a fortified wine where every input is named. The elderflower was picked on the North Fork and rushed to the distillery, petals separated by hand; the Timur pepper arrived and rewired the recipe with the aroma of a grapefruit grove — fruit, flowers and bark at once. Founder Leslie Merinoff built the vermouth over a winter of tastings before it settled. Explore more aperitif bottlings in our aperitif collection and the wider liqueurs shelves.

Tasting Notes

Green apple and unripe pear up front, with elderflower florals, a grapefruit-citrus lift from the Timur pepper, and savory green notes — vegetable vine, bay leaf — over whispers of overripe pineapple, melon and geranium. Floral sweetness rides over a crisp, dry frame.

How to Enjoy

Stir it into a martini for a distinctive, floral take on the classic, pour it over ice with soda and citrus as a spritz, or sip it chilled on its own as an aperitif. More cocktail components live across our spirits range.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes Eldest Daughter different from a classic dry vermouth?
It is built from a single named wine — biodynamic Oregon Pinot Gris — fortified with the distillery's own Pinot Gris eau de vie infused with fresh local elderflower, and seasoned with Timur peppercorn instead of the usual wormwood-led spice rack. The result is floral and citrusy over a genuinely dry base.

Where is it made?
At Matchbook Distilling Co. in Greenport, New York, on the North Fork of Long Island, from Oregon Pinot Gris and North Fork elderflowers.

How strong is it?
19% ABV, in a 750mL bottle. Refrigerate after opening, as with any vermouth.

Pick up Eldest Daughter at Del Mesa Liquor in San Diego, CA — a North Fork vermouth that drinks like a garden in season.