040 – Boulevardier

Sydney Covid ‘lock-down’ exploration of the ‘Boulevardier’ cocktail.

Lockdown has inspired me to explore this famous cocktail. Let’s take a look at the classic ‘Boulevardier’ cocktail, and explore some of the cocktail’s amazing history and changing construction.

Make your own ‘mix-at-home’ Locktail, the Bourbon lovers’ ‘Boulevardier’ Cocktail.

METHOD – Add 30ml quality Bourbon, 30ml Italian Sweet Red Vermouth, and 30ml Campari Bitters into a mixing glass with a handful of ice or a couple of large ice pieces. Mix well until cold (10 seconds or so) and strain into a double rocks glass containing a large cube or sphere of ice. Garnish with some orange peel, squeezing some of the zest oil onto the cocktail surface.

HISTORICAL NOTES – The earliest published ‘Boulevardier’ recipe is in Harry MacElhone’s (sometimes McElhone)’s, ‘Barflies and Cocktails’ published in 1927, in the epilogue, where Harry is discussing “memorable Barflies”, he says “since Erskine Gwynne crashed in with his Boulevardier Cocktail: 1/3 Campari, 1/3 Italian Vermouth, 1/3 Bourbon whisky.”

Edward ‘Erskine’ Gwynne, Jr. (1899–1948) was an American writer, and the ‘Playboy’ nephew of Alfred Vanderbilt. He was also the brother of Alice ‘Kiki’ Preston (1898–1946), a troubled socialite known as “the girl with the silver syringe”. His Father died young in 1904, aged only 35, and Erskine (age 5) spent a significant amount of his childhood in France, moving permanently to Paris in 1922 (during the US Prohibition) and founding the monthly Parisian magazine ‘The Boulevardier’ in 1927. Basing it on the ‘New Yorker’, it was published until 1932, attracting over 7,000 subscribers. It was devoted to “the lighter side of life in Paris”, and was at one point banned for being too risqué, named in celebration of the Parisian grand boulevards of old, and of living life as a bon vivant. Noel Coward and Ernest Hemingway has pieces published in ‘The Boulevardier’.

In 1926 Gwynne married model and great niece of Jefferson Davis, Josephine ‘Madeleine’ Armstrong (1903–1980), known to her friends as ‘Foxy’ in Paris. Erskine still lived a troubled playboy life, almost dying of a heart attack in 1929, aged only 30, and injured in a 1930 car accident in the USA that killed William K. Vanderbilt III (aged 26). His marriage ended in 1932, with Josephine (Foxy) remarrying in 1941 and becoming the ‘Countess of Sefton’ and a lifelong friend of Wallis Simpson (1896-1986) the ‘Duchess of Windsor’. Erskine Gwynne left Paris in 1935, as well as surviving another serious car accident that year, which led to significant health complications including paralysis in 1938.

In 1936, Erskine Gwynne wrote ‘Paris Pandemonium’, a semi-fictional ‘love story’ featuring a young woman, a Playbook, and a variety of fashionable French Bars. Gwynne died in 1948, two years after his sister and four years after his brother, aged only 49.

Harry MacElhone (1890–1958), the former Head Bartender at the Plaza Hotel, also escaped to Paris during Prohibition, buying and operating the famous ‘Harry’s New York Bar’ in Paris, and writing ‘Barflies and Cocktails’ as a way of preserving over 300 cocktail recipes. Some have credited ‘The Boulevardier’ cocktail to MacElhone, however it isn’t one of his 300 listed recipes, it is an end-note attached specifically to Erskine Gwynne. Harry MacElhone’s certainly has many cocktail credits include the Bloody Mary, Sidecar and Monkey Gland, and his own version of the White Lady. MacElhone’s book and bar have certainly promoted and ensured the longevity of ‘The Boulevardier’, however he directly credited Erskine Gwynne with its creation, or at the very least, bringing it to Paris during US Prohibition. There is even a whole-page-ad for ‘The Boulevardier’ magazine on page-111 of MacElhone’s 1927 book.

Around 100-years after its creation, either during or before US Prohibition, ‘The Boulevardier’ is having a resurgence. Influential Bartender and Writer Toby Cecchini says “it tastes the way illustrations in a 100-year-old book look”. Most contemporary recipies have moved away from the three-equal-parts recipe and tend towards a stronger Bourbon inclusion (2:1:1), stirred rather than shaken and consumed before the flavours integrate and dull.

THE OFFICIAL MIX – The ‘Boulevardier’ is included as one of only 33-cocktails in the International Bartender Association’s (IBA) ‘The Unforgettables’ official cocktail list, here. It calls for 45ml Bourbon or Rye Whiskey, 30ml Bitter Campari, 30ml Sweet Red Vermouth, mixed and strained into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with orange zest or optionally lemon zest.

TASTING NOTES – Bitter as you would expect with anything using Campari, and if you know the Negroni, it is in a similar bitter-sweet vein. Vermouth is such a variable and amazing ingredient, and the choice of Vermouth changes the cocktail dramatically, a sweet Italian Red Vermouth is probably best here, enriching the bitterness with complementary sweetness and range. Finally the Bourbon, gives a significantly different result to a Gin-based Negroni, with the whiskey flavours showing through, so again pick your favorite Bourbon or Rye Whiskey.

LOCKTAIL CHANGES – Modern re-makes tend to play to the Bourbon, often with 2-parts Bourbon to 1-part of each of the Vermouth and Bitters. I am going back to Erskine Gwynne and Harry MacElhone’s 1927 version, with three equal parts. Mix gently with ice until cold and then served over ice, a modern nod to the Negroni, although you can leave the glass ice out if you want. This is a cocktail where the flavours meld and dull as the cocktail mix settles, so don’t leave too long if you want to get the best taste from the cocktail. The strength of this cocktail really depends on your choice of ingredients, there is almost unlimited variations of Bourbon, Vermouth and Bitters. Enjoy!

YOUR LOCKTAIL EXPERIENCE – If you’d rather taste than read, I am progressively building an ingredient list and other sourcing information on this site. I will re-use ingredients where I can (good for my budget too), so that the cost goes down overtime if you are ‘playing at home’.

Let me know what you think.

Cocktails you’d like reinvented.

Recipes you’ve tried and your ‘score’.

This is the final cocktail of the 1921-1930 (‘roaring twenties’) bracket of ‘Locktail’ remixes. Next we will be moving into the 1931-1940 (‘depression’ and ‘pre-WWII’) bracket. Full list in the index.