Recipe: Boulevardier

This cocktail, which seems similar in some ways to a Negroni is attributed to Harry McElhone, founder of Harry’s New York Bar in Paris. But unlike the Negroni made with gin, this whiskey-forward recipe is uncommon, at least in its original form. I have had many cocktails where the description is “like a …” or “a variation on …” a Boulevardier, using rum or even tequila! But those phrases are just shorthand for a cocktail recipe with a 2:1:1 proportion of strong to bitter to weak. But in its original form the Boulevardier is a fine cocktail, deserving of wider enjoyment.

Boulevardier
1 ½ oz. bourbon (we used Burnside Bourbon)
¾ oz. Campari
¾ oz. sweet vermouth (we used Dolin Rouge)

Combine ingredients in a mixing glass.
Stir ingredients gently with ice.
Strain into a cocktail glass.
Garnish with a lemon twist.

The original recipe gives the proportions of 2:1:1 as we use here, but keeping to a 1 ounce measure akin to a Negroni makes for a pretty formidable amount of spirit in the glass, hence our choice of 1 ½, ¾, ¾, which will help the drinker stay a suave boulevardier, rather than ending face down on the boulevard.