Leathered Boulevardier
2015-11-15Ingredients
- 1½ parts Bourbon
- 1 part Sweet Vermouth
- 1 part Campari
- For a 3-liter wineskin, use:
- 1.125 Liters Bourbon (1½ 750ml bottles)
- 1 750ml bottle Sweet Vermouth
- 1 750ml bottle Campari
- Add all ingredients to a 3-liter leather wineskin and store to taste (2 days to indefinitely). To serve, tap 3 ounces into an ice-filled mixing glass. Stir to chill and strain into a Rocks Glass over a large ice cube. Garnish with an orange twist. If bottling, add ¼ oz. water per 6 oz. of cocktail and store in the freezer.
A cousin of the Negroni, we allow the Boulevardier to evolve further by aging it in a traditional Spanish wineskin (bota). We already love barrel-aging cocktails and thought, “Heck! Why not try aging them in a wineskin.” Instead of the smoky depth that aging a cocktail in a charred barrel gives you, the wineskin provides a nice leathery complexity to the drink. It works great with brown and bittered spirits in a cocktail like the Boulevardier because those rich and bitter elements interact nicely with the leather. Age to taste, but we enjoy it most after about four days and up to two weeks. Enjoy it straight from the wineskin or bottle up the aged concoction. If it gets too leathery for your palate, then top off the wineskin with fresh ingredients (à la the solera method) to tone it down. Check out our other Leathered (Wineskin-Aged) Cocktails and learn the ins-and-outs of wineskin management on our Tools & Techniques video. Cheers!