The recipe
- 1 ozCanadian whisky (Canadian Club)30 ml
- 1 ozItalian (sweet) vermouth30 ml
- 1 ozCampari30 ml
How to make it
- 1Stir everything with ice.
- 2Strain into a chilled coupe.
Variations: Every recipe from the Savoy (1930) on uses dry vermouth instead, and that sharper drink is the Old Pal bars serve, often 1½ oz rye to ¾ oz each of dry vermouth and Campari.
Robertson’s recipe says “Eyetalian Vermouth”, which means sweet, and gives no method. As written it is close to the Boulevardier, printed two pages earlier in the same essay.
The ratio
1 : 1 : 1
In parts, an Old Pal is 1 whiskey, 1 vermouth and 1 Campari. Change one part and you have a cousin; the closest are below.
Built the same way
Head to head
More Negronis & Spritzes
- Americano — Campari and sweet vermouth with a splash of soda. Bitter, low in alcohol and made for early evening.
- Bitter Giuseppe — A Manhattan built on the artichoke amaro Cynar instead of whiskey, with sweet vermouth and a quarter ounce of lemon. Low in alcohol, big on bitter.
- Cardinale — Gin and dry vermouth with a measure of Campari: a dry, pale-red cousin of the Negroni.
- Enzoni — Gin shaken with muddled white grapes, lemon and a little Campari: a fruity, gently bitter sour served over a big cube.
- Garibaldi — Campari and fresh orange juice over ice. Bittersweet, juicy and light.
- Negroni Sbagliato — Campari and sweet vermouth with sparkling wine where the gin should be: the “mistaken” Negroni, lighter and fizzier.