My Bar Bible / Cocktails / Manhattan vs Boulevardier

Manhattan vs Boulevardier

What is the difference between a Manhattan and a Boulevardier? Here are both recipes side by side, with exact measures, and what actually sets them apart.

The difference

• Both use sweet vermouth.
• Only the Manhattan has rye whiskey and Angostura bitters.
• Only the Boulevardier has bourbon and Campari.
• The Manhattan is the stronger drink: about 29% against about 25% once diluted.

Manhattan

Rye whiskey	50 ml
Sweet vermouth	20 ml
Angostura bitters	1 dash

Stirred · Coupe · about 29% · about 160 calories

New York, 1870s or 1880s. The popular story about Winston Churchill’s mother inventing it at the Manhattan Club is almost certainly untrue.

Manhattan recipe

Boulevardier

Bourbon	45 ml
Campari	30 ml
Sweet vermouth	30 ml

Stirred · Coupe · about 25% · about 230 calories

Created in Paris in the 1920s for Erskine Gwynne, an American who published a magazine called Boulevardier. A Negroni with whiskey.

Boulevardier recipe