Thanksgiving has come and gone, but the holiday season is still in full swing. With a slew of events on our calendar over the next few weeks, we are always on the lookout for quick and classy cocktails to enjoy. This week, we stumbled upon The Boulevardier.
The Boulevardier is a classic cocktail. Credit for the Boulevadier’s creation was given to Erskine Gwynne. It was created sometime during the late 1920s while he was living in Paris. Gwynne was a writer who founded a magazine called The Boulevardier and the drink was given the same name.
Little is known about Gwynne. Other than being a writer, the only other fact of note I found is that he was the great-nephew of Cornelius Vanderbilt. I would imagine he was somewhat wealthy and was probably quite the socialite. Why else would someone name a cocktail after your magazine if you didn’t get out and enjoy the nightlife?
The Boulevardier
The Boulevardier has enjoyed a rise in popularity over the past few years. The primary reason is the surge in the popularity of the Negroni cocktail. I don’t mind the occasional gin cocktail, but I prefer whiskey in my drink. The Negroni and Boulevadier are similar.
A Negroni contains gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth. The Boulevardier substitutes whiskey for the gin. The results however are entirely different. The Boulevardier is incredibly rich and very bitters forward. The best part is that you only need three ingredients to make it.
We opted to use Evan Williams Bourbon for our cocktail. However, you can also use rye whiskey. Campari is the recommended bitter liqueur, but we tried it with Fortify Bitter Liqueur and the results were equally as delicious. Be sure to use sweet vermouth in this recipe. One of our favorites is Triozzi because we love the herbal flavor and it is relatively inexpensive.
If you want a bold, rich cocktail that can be made in almost no time, be sure to put this on your menu.
Happy Exploring!
