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. Difford’s Guide and the Internet Archive scan of the book place its first appearance in Harry MacElhone’s Barflies and Cocktails in 1927, in a chapter by Arthur Moss that has ‘Sparrow’ Robertson give the recipe: equal thirds of Canadian Club, “Eyetalian” vermouth and Campari. Boothby, an Australian drinks site, finds French vermouth in the 1930 ninth edition of Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails, 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. The 1927 text of Barflies and Cocktails names Canadian Club, and in our experience Canadian whisky makes the softer drink.
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. We keep it in the fridge and use it within a month of opening. 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
We 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 Club, as in the 1927 recipe in the Internet Archive’s scan of Barflies and Cocktails, makes in our experience a lighter, softer drink.
Behind the Old Pal
Flavour Profile
Where It Comes From
The Old Pal appears in print in Barflies and Cocktails, published in 1927 by Harry MacElhone, who ran Harry’s New York Bar in Paris, not in the main list of recipes but in an essay by Arthur Moss on the drinks of men-about-town. The Internet Archive’s scan describes Moss as the “Around the Town” columnist of the New York Herald, Paris, and has the writer’s “old pal ‘Sparrow’ Robertson” give the recipe. Boothby quotes the 1930 credit in Harry’s ABC: “Sparrow” Robertson, Sporting Editor of the New York Herald, Paris.
The recipe there is equal thirds of Canadian Club, “Eyetalian” vermouth and Campari. Boothby finds the 1930 ninth edition of Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails with French vermouth and Canadian Club. Modern bars pour rye, and the dry vermouth stayed.
The same chapter in the Internet Archive scan prints Erskine Gwynne’s Boulevardier Cocktail, one third each of Campari, Italian vermouth and bourbon, 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; the 1927 row follows the Internet Archive’s scan of Barflies and Cocktails at 30ml a third, and the units are our calculation at our working figures of 40% for whiskey and gin, 16% for sweet vermouth and 18% for dry, with Campari at 25% on LWC’s UK listing
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 Club, as in the 1927 recipe in the Internet Archive’s scan of Barflies and Cocktails, makes in our experience 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, under the US standard 27 CFR 5.143, 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?
Sources.
Correct as of 19 October 2026.
- Internet Archive, “Barflies and Cocktails (1927), scan” (primary source, read as text: “my old pal ‘Sparrow’ Robertson … 1/3 Canadian Club, 1/3 Eyetalian Vermouth, and 1/3 Campari … call it, My Old Pal”; Arthur Moss as the “Around the Town” columnist of the New York Herald, Paris).
- Difford’s Guide, “Old Pal” (secondary source: first appears in Barflies and Cocktails (1927), in a chapter by Arthur Moss, the “Around the Town” columnist of the New York Herald, Paris; quotes the passage with the surname spelt Robinson).
- Boothby, “Who invented the Old Pal cocktail?” (secondary source: the 1930 ninth edition of Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails, recipe 208, 1/3 Canadian Club, 1/3 French vermouth, 1/3 Campari, credited to “Sparrow” Robertson, Sporting [Editor] of the New York Herald, Paris; the 1927 passage).
- LWC, “Campari 70cl” (UK wholesaler listing: Alcohol By Volume 25%).
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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, Harry MacElhone’s book, published in Paris in 1927, in a chapter by the columnist Arthur Moss, as the cocktail of Erskine Gwynne, an American in Paris who, Difford’s Guide says, helped found a monthly magazine called Boulevardier. Barflies and Cocktails gives the 1927 recipe as equal parts Campari, Italian vermouth and bourbon. 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: VinePair dates it to 2007, as the pair to Michael McIlroy’s Right Hand, and Difford’s Guide 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. Punch reports that Wayne Collins, a London bartender, made the first ones on a hot summer night in 2001 near Bordeaux, where he and Nick Blacknell, then director of Plymouth Gin, were in town for Vinexpo. Rummaging in a local liquor store for the ingredients, they bought French bottles instead, Punch says: Suze for the bitter, Lillet Blanc for the wine. Collins chose the name, he told Punch, because it would be easy to communicate to the trade. 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 19 October 2026