Vieux Carre
The Vieux Carré cocktail is a decadent version of the Manhattan—slightly sweeter and definitely showing more depth and complexity. It’s a powerhouse of a cocktail in its own right. While there are varying recipes out there and everyone’s tastes differ, I believe this cocktail must be made with Rye Whiskey and not Bourbon.
Created in New Orleans in the 1930s by Walter Bergeron at the Carousel Bar in the Hotel Monteleone, it’s said that the Vieux Carré is New Orleans in a glass. “Vieux Carré” (pronounced Vyoo Karay) means “old square” in French. In naming this cocktail, Bergeron was referencing the old French Quarter of the city.
The Vieux Carré is an early twentieth-century Americana cocktail, blending French spirits and liqueurs, Italian vermouth, South American Angostura Bitters, Louisiana-inspired Peychaud’s Bitters, and Rye Whiskey from just up the Mississippi.
It’s a very decadent, very boozy cocktail with a depth of flavour that really takes you by surprise.
The first printed recipe for the Vieux Carré cocktail comes from Stanley Clisby Arthur’s 1938 book Famous New Orleans Cocktails and How to Mix ‘Em. The 1938 printed recipe suggests adding a piece of pineapple and a cherry, but as tastes evolve, we’ve moved away from those flavours. These days, the Vieux Carré is typically garnished simply with a lemon twist. However, if you want to create this cocktail just as it would have been made in the 1930s, you can always add a piece of pineapple and a cherry on a cocktail stick and use it to stir the cocktail in the glass.
Vieux Carre Cocktail Ingredients:
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30 ml Rye Whiskey
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30 ml Cognac/Armagnac
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30 ml Rosso Vermouth
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10 ml Benedictine D.O.M
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2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Instructions:
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Shake all ingredients with ice.
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Strain into an ice-filled Old Fashioned glass.
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Garnish with a lemon twist.
