The Boulevardier was an English language literary magazine in Paris in the 1920s. Erskine Gwynne, the editor, was a loyal customer of Harry McElhone, who founded the eponymous Harry's New York Bar. Even though it's not clear if Gwynne or McElhone created the Boulevardier, McElhone mentioned it in a footnote in his 1927 book Barflies and Cocktails.

1 ounce bourbon
1 ounce sweet vermouth
1 ounce Campari

Combine in a mixing glass with ice, stir with some American je ne sais quoi, and strain into a chilled glass. Lemon or orange peel garnish optional.

Fundamentally a Boulevardier is a Negroni with bourbon instead of gin. Another way of viewing it is that it's a modified Manhattan with Campari instead of Angostura bitters. Like other cocktails such as the Old Pal (which McElhone created for another one of his loyal customers), the Bijou, and the Last Word, the Boulevardier is a bartender’s dream because of its simple ratio and short ingredient list. If you want to emphasize the bourbon, a variation I like uses one and half ounces of bourbon and .75 ounces each of the sweet vermouth and Campari. The Boulevardier lends itself to tinkering. For example, add some molé bitters, and you have a Left Hand.

Looking for a simple and laudable cocktail? Have a Boulevardier and look no further.

Ron, my father-in-law, recently commissioned an original cocktail creation for his 80th birthday (four score is old way of saying 80; think of the beginning of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address). His request? A drink that is scotch based, dry, and nutty. So I brought forth upon this world, a new cocktail, conceived in the Wulf Cocktail Den, and dedicated to the proposition that all drinkers are created equal (see below for the non-alcoholic version).

2 ounces scotch
.5 ounces dry vermouth
.25 ounces amaretto
2 dashes hazelnut bitters

Combine in a mixing glass with ice, stir with some matter of fact festiveness like the drink's namesake, and strain into a chilled glass, preferably rocks. Amarena cherry garnish optional.

The Ron's Four Score takes its place in my pantheon of commissioned cocktails such as the Cancer Killer #1, the Ray's 619, and my personal favorite, the Whiskey Queen. As Ron requested, this cocktail is pretty dry. If it's too dry for you, add a quarter ounce of amaretto or serve it on the rocks. The amaretto and the hazelnut bitters give the Ron's Four Score a hint of nuttiness. If you can't find hazelnut bitters, use chocolate or Angostura, but then of course the drink will taste a little different. Using ingredients Ms. Cocktail Den found online, I also created a non-alcoholic (what I call a 3/4 cocktail) version with Spiritless Kentucky 74, Roots Aperitif Bianco, and Lyre's Amaretti (use the same proportions as the alcoholic version).

You don't have to be named Ron, be 80, or be celebrating a birthday before you can have a Ron's Four Score. What do you need to have? Some spirit (pun intended)!