Boulevardier

Have you ever had the experience where you discover something and then it starts showing up everywhere? Had it always been around and you’d simply never noticed it or is it really new?  We may never know the answer, but I can tell you that this drink falls into this category.

Ed and I take turns most Sunday nights testing out a new cocktail. If it’s a really good one the ‘prize’ is making it onto Riegl Palate. Early in the summer, Ed’s cocktail of choice was a Boulevardier. We were already fans of the Negroni and learned this was its cousin. 

The difference between the two is the base liquor – a Negroni is made with gin and a Boulevardier with whiskey, but more specifically bourbon. The other two ingredients are Campari and sweet vermouth. And, the ratio is simple and easy to remember – 1:1:1. While there’s only one Campari there are many options for sweet vermouth. Once we discovered Carpano Antica Formula we’ve never looked for another sweet vermouth. I had pretty much thought all sweet vermouths were the same – but now know that’s not the case. The Carpano is perfect in both a Boulevardier, Negroni and any drink that calls for sweet vermouth. (I’m now done with my sweet vermouth commercial.)

History states that the Boulevardier was created by an American, Erksine Gwynne, who wrote a literary magazine in Paris from 1927 to 1932 with the same name. It turns out that ‘Boulevardier’ means ‘a wealthy, fashionable socialite.’ Gwynne was just that, having been a member of the Vanderbilt family. The cocktail is first documented by Scottish bartender, Harry McElhone, in his 1927 recipe collection, Barflies and Cocktails.

So just days after Ed made a Boulevardier for our Sunday cocktail, I had a meeting for the Wharton Esherick Museum at a local restaurant. We agreed to meet at the bar and the two people with whom I was meeting both ordered a Boulevardier!  In case you were wondering, I waited to post this recipe until the fall as it reminded me of a cocktail you’d enjoy sitting in front of a fire during the colder weather.

Learn more about the history of the Boulevardier in Imbibe Liquid Culture’s History Lesson:  The Boulevardier.

Foreshadowing… look for a Negroni post next June to coincide with Negroni week and to celebrate the Negronis we enjoyed in Rome over the summer.

P.S.  How fun when my brother-in-law, Colin S, texts and says he thinks that The New Yorker is reading Riegl Palate as they just did a post entitled The Perfect Thanksgiving Cocktail Is the Boulevardier. I had them beat by five days! This article packs in a lot of information. Apparently a Boulevardier made with rye is technically called an ‘Old Pal’ (this is how my dad prefers his Boulevardier).