Old Pal

The Old Pal is one of my favorite aperitifs. Rye, Campari, and dry vermouth combine in equal parts with notes of orange and a subtle sweetness, but mostly a strong, herbal bitterness. It's much more my style than the cocktails that pair Campari with sweet vermouth.

Speaking of, the Old Pal is a close cousin of the Boulevardier, which contains bourbon, Campari, and sweet vermouth. The Boulevardier, in turn, is essentially a Negroni with bourbon replacing gin. It's a family tree of cocktails leading way back, and also continues into to the present as mixologists continue to create variations of these classic formulas.

History: Like the Boulevardier, this cocktail comes from Harry MacElhone, proprietor of Harry's New York Bar in Paris and author of Harry's ABC of Mixing Cocktails and Barflies and Cocktails. It is popularly attributed to William "Sparrow" Robertson, a journalist and "old pal" of McElhone's (Sparrow's obituary stated that he called most people "old pal"). Like most classic cocktails, the story is murky beyond that. It is usually stated that the recipe for the Old Pal appeared in the 1922 edition of Harry's ABC, but apparently a copy of this is extremely hard to come by and most folks aren't sure. It also seems that McElhone might not have met Sparrow until 1925. A recipe similar to the Old Pal appears in the appendix of Barflies and Cocktails along with the Boulevardier, and this is probably the first real printing. See this post at Serious Eats for more details.

Old Pal

1 oz. rye
1 oz. Campari
1 oz. dry vermouth

Combine ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir until chilled strain into a cocktail glass or coupe and garnish with an orange peel. Toast your old pals.

Recipe from Punch.