The Boulevardier Cocktail

The Boulevardier Cocktail

 The Noble Experiment, aka prohibition changed many things in the United States not the least of which was the American economy. Some believe the Volstead Act of 1920 was the first broken straw leading to the Great Depression less than a decade later. The unintended consequences of prohibition was that millions of tax dollars ceased to roll in to state and federal treasuries and thousands of people that instantly found themselves unemployed. Not just distillery workers but barrel makers, truck drivers, waiters and bartenders, which is really where this cocktail story begins. 

Once prohibition began, many of the great bartenders of the time moved to Canada, South America or Europe to apply their trade outside the reach of US prohibition laws. One of the best was the New York Plaza Hotel bartender Harry McElhone. Harry started his overseas journey first in London then moving on to Paris where he opened his own place Harry’s New York Bar. It was there he tended to another expat and nephew of millionaire Alfred Vanderbilt, Erskine Gwynne. Erskine was a socialite and publisher a The Boulevardier a French weekly similar to today’s New Yorker. 

Harry created this signature cocktail for Erskine and named it after this publication. Later in 1927 it was published for the first time in Harry’s book Barflies and Cocktails. Harry’s original Boulevardier recipe called for: 

• 1oz Bourbon 
• 1 oz Sweet Vermouth 
• 1 oz Campari

Shake with ice, and serve in a rocks glass with ice and a orange peel as garnish. 

An Updated Boulevardier Cocktail

 

I always found the cocktail to sweet for my personal taste until a friend Ama Keates who also happens to be a career bartender at Sophie's Bar NYC in New York City suggested her version of the cocktail. She was kind enough to not only share the recipe, but mix it for us on camera:

Posted by The Whiskey Mafia on Saturday, January 29, 2022

Heres's her version written out if you want to copy it down. 

• 2 1/2 oz bourbon (Four Roses) or Woodford’s in my case. 
• 1 oz Campari 
• 1 oz Sweet Vermouth 
• A little dash orange bitters 
• Orange twist 

No need to truly shake, the transfer from glass to shaker and then strain over ice is enough. Add the twist. 

The extra bourbon definitely allows the bitterness of the Campari, sweetness of the Vermouth and the spiciness of the bourbon to blend into a complex and well balanced drink. Cheers The Wise Guy Dan Kelley