{"id":81739,"date":"2018-09-19T14:42:54","date_gmt":"2018-09-19T18:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/?post_type=recipe&p=81739"},"modified":"2025-08-25T14:17:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T18:17:14","slug":"boulevardier-classic-cocktail","status":"publish","type":"recipe","link":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/recipe\/boulevardier-classic-cocktail\/","title":{"rendered":"Boulevardier: Classic Cocktail with a Southern Twist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cocktail: Boulevardier
\nRecipe by Andy Nelson
\nNelson\u2019s Green Brier Distillery<\/a>, Nashville, Tennessee<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEasy to drink, timeless, seasonless\u2014it\u2019s good in the winter or the summer. It\u2019s got a little bit of everything\u2014the bitter, the sweet, the whiskey,\u201d says Andy Nelson, co-owner and head distiller at Nelson\u2019s Green Brier Distillery<\/a> in Nashville. \u201cThe Boulevardier I can drink all night. Or day.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Prohibition was a dark time in America, Europe kept the party going. Many top bar talents migrated from the States, and Scottish-born bartender Harry McElhone documented the burst of creativity they inspired in Barflies & Cocktails<\/em>, published in 1927. The book marks the first appearance of the Boulevardier, crediting the recipe to Erskine Gwynne, a descendant of the Vanderbilt family and Prohibition-era expat who published a literary magazine in Paris called Boulevardier<\/em>. The drink is simply a Negroni<\/a> that replaces gin with whiskey, which brings sweetness and oaky spice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Boulevardier sparked something in my mind about cocktail \u2018theory,\u2019 if you will,\u201d Nelson says. \u201cI\u2019ve never been a bartender, but the Boulevardier helped me understand cocktails.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nelson may not have experience slinging drinks, but whiskey is definitely in his blood. His great-great-great grandfather, Charles Nelson, ran the successful Green Brier Distillery in Tennessee, which shut down in 1909 when Prohibition came into effect in the state. Andy and his brother, Charlie, rediscovered this family history and revived the brand in 2009. In 2012, their Belle Meade Bourbon was a runner-up in G&G\u2019<\/em>s Made in the South Awards<\/a>, and in 2014 they fired up their own distillery in Nashville. Today, Nelson\u2019s Green Brier Tennessee Whiskey and Belle Meade Bourbon brands are available in 20 states, and the company plans to release its first bottling of house-distilled four-year-old Tennessee whiskey next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI generally prefer bourbon over rye, even in traditional rye cocktails. I prefer the sweetness of a bourbon to the spice of a rye. It\u2019s just more comforting to me,\u201d Nelson says. In the Boulevardier, bourbon and sweet vermouth help balance the bitterness of Campari, an Italian liqueur flavored with citrus and bitter gentian root. Nelson suggests Carpano Antica Formula for the vermouth, and his own Belle Meade Single Barrel or Willett Pot Still Reserve for the bourbon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A bourbon-based twist on the Negroni, this classic cocktail came to life in 1920s Paris. Andy Nelson, of Nashville\u2019s Green Brier Distillery, shows how to mix one<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":81741,"template":"","categories":[2392,1780],"tags":[51,30407,29480,18317,47,3048,29487,508],"authors":[3208],"issue":[],"recipe-type":[2506],"class_list":["post-81739","recipe","type-recipe","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drinks","category-food-and-drink","tag-bourbon","tag-bourbon-cocktail","tag-campari","tag-classic-cocktails","tag-cocktails","tag-holiday-recipes","tag-vermouth","tag-whiskey","authors-jason-horn","recipe-type-cocktails"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nBoulevardier: Classic Cocktails with a Southern Twist \u2013 Garden & Gun<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Boulevardier cocktail, a bourbon-based twist on the Negroni, came to life in 1920s Paris. 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