Old Pal
An Old Pal is 45ml rye whiskey, 22.5ml Campari and 22.5ml dry vermouth, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled Nick and Nora glass, and finished with a twist of lemon. About 2.8 UK units. It is the drier cousin of the Boulevardier. Swap the Boulevardier’s sweet vermouth for dry and its bourbon for rye, and the Campari tastes more bitter, the whiskey more peppery, and the drink leaner. It belongs before dinner. It first appeared in Harry MacElhone’s Barflies and Cocktails in 1927, credited to ‘Sparrow’, a sports editor of the New York Herald in Paris. That first recipe was equal parts Canadian Club, Italian vermouth and Campari. Later editions of MacElhone’s books gave French vermouth, and the dry version is the one that stuck.
Glassware: Nick & Nora Glass
Garnish: Lemon twist
Ingredients
45ml
A straight rye at 40% ABV or a little more. Its pepper is what the dry vermouth sharpens. Canadian whisky makes the softer drink of the 1927 recipe.
22.5ml
At 25% ABV, it brings the bitterness and the colour. With no sweet vermouth to soften it, the same measure tastes more bitter than in a Boulevardier.
22.5ml
French-style dry vermouth, refrigerated and no more than a month open. It brings herbs and a dry wine edge.
Instructions
Chill a Nick and Nora glass.
Add the rye, Campari and dry vermouth to a mixing glass.
Fill with cubed ice and stir for 20 to 30 seconds.
Strain into the chilled glass.
Express a lemon twist over the surface and drop it in.
Expert Tip
Keep the dry vermouth in the fridge and use it within about a month. It makes up a quarter of the glass, and no sugar hides a tired bottle. Stale vermouth tastes flat and slightly sour. Stir for the full 20 to 30 seconds. There is no juice or syrup, so dilution alone softens the Campari. Stop short and the bitterness lands hard. Choose a rye with some spice. Bourbon brings back the sweetness the dry vermouth took out. Canadian whisky, as in the first printed recipe, makes a lighter, softer drink.
Behind the Old Pal
Flavour Profile
Where It Comes From
The Old Pal appears in Barflies and Cocktails, published in 1927 by Harry MacElhone, who ran Harry’s New York Bar in Paris. It sits in a section where Arthur Moss, a New York Herald columnist, describes the drinks of the Paris barflies, and he credits this one to ‘Sparrow’, a sports editor at the same paper.
The recipe there is equal parts Canadian Club, Italian vermouth and Campari. Later editions give French vermouth and Canadian whisky. Modern bars pour rye, and the dry vermouth stayed.
The Boulevardier comes from the same Paris bar and the same years, so the pair are often made side by side.
Dry Vermouth Instead of Sweet
The Boulevardier and the Old Pal share a shape: whiskey, Campari and vermouth, stirred. The vermouth changes the drink most.
Sweet vermouth adds sugar and weight. Against Campari it softens the bitterness and rounds the whiskey.
Dry vermouth adds herbs and a dry wine edge, and nothing to soften the Campari. The bitterness comes through, the rye tastes more peppery, and the drink finishes dry.
The Old Pal beside its relatives
Old Pal, ours
- Base
- 45ml rye
- Campari
- 22.5ml
- Vermouth
- 22.5ml dry
- UK units
- 2.8
Old Pal, 1927 (equal thirds, at 30ml)
- Base
- 30ml Canadian Club
- Campari
- 30ml
- Vermouth
- 30ml Italian (sweet)
- UK units
- 2.4
Boulevardier
- Base
- 45ml bourbon
- Campari
- 30ml
- Vermouth
- 30ml sweet
- UK units
- 3.0
Negroni
- Base
- 30ml gin
- Campari
- 30ml
- Vermouth
- 30ml sweet
- UK units
- 2.4
| Drink | Base | Campari | Vermouth | UK units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Pal, ours | 45ml rye | 22.5ml | 22.5ml dry | 2.8 |
| Old Pal, 1927 (equal thirds, at 30ml) | 30ml Canadian Club | 30ml | 30ml Italian (sweet) | 2.4 |
| Boulevardier | 45ml bourbon | 30ml | 30ml sweet | 3.0 |
| Negroni | 30ml gin | 30ml | 30ml sweet | 2.4 |
Rye Rather Than Bourbon
Rye’s dry, peppery grain suits the dry frame. Bourbon brings sweetness and roundness, and here it puts back much of what the dry vermouth took out.
Canadian whisky, as in the first printed recipe, makes a softer, lighter Old Pal. Try one beside a rye version to taste the difference the grain makes.
The Proportions
Equal parts is how MacElhone printed it, and it makes a sharply bitter drink, with as much Campari as whiskey.
Ours leans on the rye, at 45ml to 22.5ml each of Campari and vermouth. The whiskey leads and the bitterness frames it.
How to Serve It
Stirred for 20 to 30 seconds, strained into a chilled Nick and Nora, with a lemon twist expressed over the top and dropped in.
Lemon rather than orange: Campari already tastes of bitter orange, and lemon oil gives a cleaner, sharper top. Serve it before dinner.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Whiskey (Rye)Rye whiskey, in American law, takes at least 51% of its grain from rye and its colour from new charred oak, and goes into bottle at a 40% ABV minimum; our recipes take 40% as the figure. Rye makes a drier, spicier, more peppery spirit than corn, which is why stirred classics such as the Manhattan, Vieux Carré and Brooklyn are written for it. It appears in 23 of our recipes.
Master the Techniques
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in an Old Pal?
How strong is an Old Pal?
What is the difference between an Old Pal and a Boulevardier?
Rye or bourbon?
Was the original made with dry vermouth?
Who was the old pal?
Equal parts or more rye?
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Boulevardier
A Boulevardier is 45ml bourbon, 30ml Campari and 30ml sweet vermouth, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained over fresh ice in a rocks glass, with orange peel. It is the bourbon Negroni: the same Campari and vermouth with bourbon in place of gin, and that one change makes it warmer and rounder. About 3.0 UK units. It first appeared in print in Barflies and Cocktails, published in Paris in 1927, where Harry MacElhone of Harry’s New York Bar credited it to Erskine Gwynne, an American writer who ran a monthly magazine called Boulevardier. The 1927 recipe was equal parts. The measures here are the IBA’s, with the bourbon ahead of the other two. Equal parts works well with a lighter vermouth. Against a rich one such as Carpano Antica Formula, the extra 15ml of bourbon keeps the drink from turning heavy.
Left Hand
A Left Hand is 45ml of bourbon, 22.5ml of Campari, 22.5ml of sweet vermouth and three dashes of chocolate bitters, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled Nick and Nora glass, finished with an orange twist. About 2.7 UK units. It is a Boulevardier with cacao in it and less of the bitter and the vermouth. It is Sam Ross’s drink, from the New York bar Milk & Honey, made most likely in 2007 as the pair to Michael McIlroy’s Right Hand, though some sources date it to 2006. His version used Bittermens Xocolatl Mole bitters, then new on the market, and a cherry. The chocolate sits between the bourbon’s vanilla and the Campari’s bitter orange, so the two taste joined. Pulling the Campari and vermouth back to 22.5ml each leaves the bitters room to be tasted.
White Negroni
A White Negroni is 45ml of London Dry gin, 30ml of Lillet Blanc and 20ml of Suze, stirred over one large cube in a rocks glass for 20 to 30 seconds, with a lemon twist expressed over the top and dropped in. About 2.7 UK units. Wayne Collins, a London bartender, made the first ones in the summer of 2001 near Bordeaux, where he and Nick Blacknell of Plymouth Gin were in town for Vinexpo. With no Campari or Italian vermouth to hand, they bought French bottles instead: Suze for the bitter, Lillet Blanc for the wine. Collins chose the name so the trade would understand it at once. The shape survives and every flavour moves. Suze is bitter from gentian root, earthy where Campari is orange peel, and Lillet is lighter and more honeyed than sweet vermouth. Suze is also the louder of the two bitters, which is why ours trims it to 20ml rather than pouring three equal measures.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 12 October 2026