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Old Pal

A Prohibition-era cocktail of rye, dry vermouth, and Campari. The drier, spicier cousin of the Boulevardier.

5 min · Makes 1

Equal parts, stirred and served up, which is exactly right: a drink with no juice in it should never be shaken, or it clouds. Dry vermouth is the choice that defines today’s version, keeping the rye’s spice and the Campari’s bitterness sharp where a sweet vermouth would round everything toward a Boulevardier.

Prep
5 min
Serves
1
Difficulty
Easy

Old Pal

Prep 5 min · Serves 1 · Difficulty Easy

Method

  1. Fill a mixing glass with ice.

  2. Pour rye whiskey, dry vermouth, and Campari.

  3. Stir well until chilled.

  4. Strain into a chilled coupe glass.

  5. Garnish with a lemon twist.

The story behind Old Pal

Credited in Harry MacElhone’s 1927 book to "Sparrow" Robertson, the sports editor of the Paris edition of the New York Herald, and poured first at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris. The earliest recipe used Canadian Club whisky and sweet (Italian) vermouth in equal parts with Campari; French dry vermouth took over around 1930, and rye whiskey became the standard base only later, giving the drier, spicier drink most bars pour today.

Old Pal

Where it comes from

It was born in Paris, not Italy: the recipe first appeared in Harry MacElhone’s 1927 book Barflies and Cocktails, credited to a sports editor of the New York Herald in Paris. That first version used Canadian whisky and Italian (sweet) vermouth; the dry-vermouth formula you drink today settled in over the following decades.

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