Explorations in Mixology Cocktails Drinking

Boulevardier

Boulevardier DetailA few weeks ago, someone mentioned the Boulevardier cocktail in a comment. It’s a drink that we first read about in Ted Haigh’s Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, and one we knew we would eventually feature as a Drink of the Week. There are so many drinks that can be described in terms of another one, and the Boulevardier is no exception.

Take a Negroni and substitute bourbon for the gin and you basically have a Boulevardier. But to put it like that, despite it being a wonderful and delicious libation, is to deny our cocktail its due. Long before most Americans would have even heard of Campari, this recipe appeared in 1927—some twenty years before the Negroni saw print. We might venture to argue that the Boulevardier is also the better drink. Now, some of you will take offense to that statement, but for those who are willing to try this one, we’d like to suggest a few specific ingredients.

BoulevardierBoulevardier
1.5 oz bourbon
1 oz sweet vermouth
1 oz Campari

Add ingredients to a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill. Allow plenty of stir time to adequately cool and dilute the ingredients, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a cherry.

We used Maker’s 46 to make ours, but any flavorful bourbon will work. We have even heard of people using rye with success. But for us, the choice that matters is the vermouth. We tried Carpano Antica Formula and we gotta say, it makes this cocktail a winner. Instead of fighting for balance in competition with a full ounce of Campari’s bitterness, the vermouth’s strong, sweet character actually tames and enhances the Campari without overpowering it. About the moment you notice you are enjoying this marriage of flavors, your whiskey pokes through. It’s a precious combination that looks as good as it tastes, shining like a deep, red, liquid ruby.

In all fairness to the Negroni, we use Carpano Antica when we make those too. Yet, at this moment, despite the equal opportunity, we prefer whiskey’s richness and depth in this combination over gin’s uplifting botanicals and citrus. Or maybe this is just how we feel about it today, and tomorrow will have us in a different mood.

Another way to look at it is to think of this as just a Manhattan with Campari, but we’d like to see the Boulevardier get a little of its own recognition from now on. Give it a try and let us know what you think.

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Scott
Scott
14 years ago

Randy, i think we discussed this one in another DOTW’s comments section…to those who havent tried, do so, a great drink!

As if a Manhattan and a Negroni got married and had a beautiful child!

Randy Hanson
Randy Hanson
14 years ago

Well, here I am a day later. What did I make? A Negroni? Nope. Having another one of these, but i see that I am running out of Antica.

Desentupimentos Matosinhos
Desentupimentos Matosinhos
6 years ago

This Boulevardier is divine, has a appealing and pleasing flavor.