The Boulevardier

Today we’re taking a stroll down memory lane and looking at the history of the most relaxed cocktail ever, The Boulevardier.

I’ve been writing Drinking Culture for just over a year now. My first post was ‘The wine that came from the cold’ on the 10 March 2023. Since then I have published 80 posts, including some great guest ones like this appreciation of Harry’s Bar in Venice, and accumulated nearly over 1400 subscribers (about 5% of whom are paid) - more than I ever anticipated. So thank you for reading and if you’re thinking of upgrading to join the happy few as paid subscribers, that would be enormously helpful. 

More than numbers and money, I’ve really enjoyed being able to write what I want and the interaction with readers here, so different to the banalities and cant of most social media. It’s like the internet in 2005. Today’s post was suggested by one particular reader who goes by the name of Curate’s Egg. 

But before we get in, I am also delighted to announce that my book Vines in a Cold Climate is now on the shortlist for the Andre Simon award - the highly prestigious food and drink book awards now in its 45th year. The winners will be announced on 29th April. 

Right, the Boulevardier!

First let’s take a moment to reflect on what a great name ‘Boulevardier’ is for a drink, conjuring up as it does carefree young men of leisure like you might find in PG Wodehouse stories, ambling around ‘20s Paris, London or New York stopping for a cocktail with only an overbearing aunt or two to worry about.

The cocktail is named after a magazine based in Paris run by an American called Erskine Gwynne in the 1920s and 1930s. A nephew of railway tycoon Alfred Vanderbilt, we can assume that Gwynne was not short of a bob or two. I bet he didn’t have to worry about whether his magazine would have enough adverts in it. 

Note very dark colour

The cocktail was created for him by Harry MacElhone from Harry’s New York Bar in Paris. A Scot by birth, MacElhone had honed his craft in the US during the golden age of cocktails before leaving because of prohibition to set up his own bar in France. Prohibition was brilliant for unleashing a wave of American-trained bartenders, not all of them were named Harry, on Europe’s bars. Thank you 18th amendment!

The cocktail appeared in McElhone's 1927 book Barflies and Cocktails: Over 300 Cocktail Recipes but despite this, until recently it remained quite obscure. It’s not in many cocktail books I have that were published between the 1930s and the ‘90s. David Embury writing in the 1940s has something called a Boulevard which is a Dry Manhattan with 2-3 dashes of Grand Marnier - so not much like a Boulevardier. Since the great Negroni explosion of 2009/10 bartenders and drinkers have taken an interest in its whiskey-based cousin and it’s now firmly established on every bar menu.

The Boulevardier is not, however, simply a Negroni with the gin swapped for whiskey. It is usually made with a higher percentage of spirit. After much fiddling around, I found that 1.5 parts whiskey to 1 part each of vermouth and Campari works best, but the 2:1:1 ratio is great if you like a strong drink (and if you’re reading this column, I imagine you do.) Most recipes call for bourbon though I think even better is a spicy rye whiskey like Michter’s or High West Double Rye.

The first time I ever had a Boulevardier, it was made by Alessandro Palazzi at Duke’s Bar in London using Grand Old Parr – a blended Scotch that’s very popular in Colombia. And while I’m not going to argue with Palazzi when it comes to cocktails, I thought it was a bit too smooth and sweet, it got lost in the Campari and vermouth.

What works best are big spicy Irish whiskeys like Redbreast 12 Year Old, high ester Jamaican rums lor a sturdy Armagnac like Château du Tariquet Lengendaire though you probably don’t want to use a £60 brandy in your cocktails. Or maybe you do. Sometimes, you have to ask yourself, ‘what would Erskine Gwynne do?’

Now normally I’d reach for the Campari but I’ve got some Dr Hostetter’s Bitters in the house, a sample, which has much of red magic but in a less bitter form. In which case, you can make your Boulevardier with a 1:1:1 ratio - your head will thank you the next day. Finally vermouth, I’m going to do a special vermouth post next week for paid subscribers. The short version is that Martini rosso is absolutely fine though I’m using a far superior one from Spain called Paso-Vermú which is made with real red wine rather than just being coloured with caramel. It tastes like a young, spiced Banyuls though the colour is so dark, almost black, that the finished drink looks more like Coca-Cola than a classic bright red Negroni. 

As for instructions, put everything in the glass with lots of ice, give it a good stir and express a twist of orange over the top. Then it’s time to button up your spats, grab your boater and take a leisurely stroll down the boulevard.