Vieux Carre
Ingredients:
1oz Sazerac Rye
1oz Cognac VSOP
1oz Carpano Antica
1/4oz Benedictine
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 dashes Peychauds bitters
Lemon Twist
Instructions:
Add bitters to mixing glass. Add liquids, then add ice and stir. Pour into a double old fashioned glass over a large cube. Garnish with the lemon twist.
Notes:
The Vieux Carre is another great New Orleans cocktail. By splitting the base spirits, using half rye/half cognac, the base takes on a sweet and spicy flavor with a smooth taste and a bit of a punch. The Benedictine and rich Carpano Antica give the drink a more complex flavor with a hint of fall. The spice from the 2 types of bitters, New Orleans own Peychauds and Angostura, add more depth and spice to the Vieux Carre. The lemon twist can also be flamed if desired. The garnish idea came from a great book called “Bitters” by Brad Thomas Parsons. Highly recommended read.
History:
The Swan Bar was at the site of the modern day Carausel Bar at the Hotel Monetleone, which still serves the Vieux Carre as its house cocktail.
Meaning “Old Square,” the Vieux Carre hails from the French Quarter in New Orleans. The house cocktail at the Swan Bar at the Hotel Monteleone, the Vieux Carre was first made there in 1938 by Walter Bergeron, making this one of the great classics that actually arose after prohibition.
Variations:
Many options with this one as well. Can swap garnish for orange twist or flamed orange twist. Add or substitute a dash or two of black walnut bitters. Swap aged rum for the cognac for a sweeter taste. Many more to come.
The Straight Up 
5 Responses to “Vieux Carre”
[…] While I do mix a few cocktails with Sazerac Rye, such as New Orleans favorites the Sazerac and Vieux Carre, I try not to use it too often given it’s relative scarcity. […]
[…] twist. Definitely not for every cocktail, but it adds great flavor to cocktails such as the Vieux Carre or a […]
[…] The taste is a bit heavier and sweeter, almost such that you would think cognac is present. More like a cross between a Boulevardier and a Vieux Carre. […]
[…] of my other favorite classic cocktails is the Vieux Carre. I’ve done a few variations, swapping say Old Tom Gin for the Rye, Rum for Cognac, mixing up […]
[…] Chartreuse or Benedictine. Try a Last Word Variation with Strega or sub it in for Benedictine in a Vieux Carre. You get the […]