Vieux Carre Cocktail Recipe
A rich, layered New Orleans sipper that splits its base between rye and cognac, then rounds it out with vermouth and Benedictine.
- Category: The Unforgettables
- Glass: Old fashioned glass
- ABV: 25%
- Difficulty: Medium
- Prep time: ~4 min
Ingredients
- Rye whiskey30 ml (1 oz)
- Cognac30 ml (1 oz)
- Sweet red vermouth30 ml (1 oz)
- Bénédictine5 ml (0.2 oz)
- Peychaud's bitters1 dash
- Angostura bitters1 dash
How to Make It
- Add all the ingredients to a mixing glass filled with ice.
- Stir until well chilled and properly diluted.
- Strain into an old fashioned glass over a large ice cube.
- Garnish with a lemon twist and a maraschino cherry.
Garnish
A lemon twist and a maraschino cherry.
What it tastes like
The spirit is right out front and it is layered, giving you something different each sip.
The technique
Stirring. All-spirit drinks are stirred — shaking whips air into them and ruins both the clarity and the texture. Thirty to forty seconds in a mixing glass, the spoon tracing the wall. You are after the same ~20% dilution, just slower and under control.
Glass and ice
A heavy-bottomed, wide old fashioned glass. Wide enough for one large cube, which is the point: a big cube has less surface area, so the drink gets cold without getting watery.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Rye whiskey
- Rye whiskey. Where bourbon is sweet, rye brings black pepper and a mint-like sharpness; in drinks with sweet vermouth, like a Manhattan, that sharpness is what holds the balance.
- Cognac
- Brandy distilled from grapes in the Cognac region of France. VS is young and lively, VSOP rounder; in a cocktail VS is plenty, since VSOP's finesse disappears in the mix.
- Sweet red vermouth
- Once opened it lives IN THE FRIDGE and should be finished within a month; a bottle left at room temperature oxidises in a few weeks and sours the drink.
- Bénédictine
- A French liqueur made with honey and 27 botanicals. Sweet and spiced; it usually pairs with cognac or whiskey, and because it does the sweetening, the recipe skips syrup.
- Peychaud's bitters
- The New Orleans bitters — anise and rose, and red in colour. It is what a Sazerac tastes of, and swapping in Angostura makes it a different drink entirely.
- Angostura bitters
- The salt of the cocktail world. Measured in dashes, not millilitres: a few of them cut the sweetness and add spice. One bottle lasts years.
The Story
Created at a New Orleans hotel bar in the 1930s and named for the Vieux Carre, the city's French Quarter.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Vieux Carre mixed?
- It is stirred and served in an old fashioned glass.
- How strong is a Vieux Carre?
- Roughly 25% ABV as served — a spirit-strength drink — sipped slowly, and it wants a glass of water beside it.
- Can a Vieux Carre be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Vieux Carre hard to make?
- Moderate. A shaker or mixing glass plus a strainer covers it.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.