Boucheron

Boucheron

1 ½ oz. Tanqueray No. 10 gin
¾ oz. Sweet Vermouth
¾ oz. Grand Marnier 
Garnish: orange zest twist

Combine the gin, sweet vermouth, and Grand Marnier into a mixing glass. Stir once, then add ice and stir again. Strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with an orange zest twist.

I’ve been there. 

Nightcaps so overwhelmingly boozy and medicinal that you’re not sure whether to drop the $20 craft beverage or continue to suffer through tiny sip after tiny sip. For me, a nightcap should be a long, languorous experience that you want lasting for hours, savouring every distinct favour profile. It’s really a lost weekend in your mouth. With French lingerie. And 1,500-thread count sheets.

Enter the Boucheron, which is my take on the Bijou, a classic gin drink dating back to the 1890s but disappeared after Prohibition. The Bijou reappeared in the 1980s when Dale DeGroff discovered the recipe in Harry Johnson’s New and Improved Bartender Manual originally published in 1900. Its name comes from the colours of the ingredients used in the traditional recipe: diamond (gin), ruby (sweet vermouth), and emerald (chartreuse). In Boucheron, I’ve replaced chartreuse with Grand Marnier, giving it a citrus nose and more approachable finish. Each sip should have you savouring and wanting more. Much like good sex. 

Why the name, Boucheron? It pays homage to the luxury jewellery house of the same name, located in Paris’ Place Vendôme. This drink shares the hue from a stunning, amber-jeweled ring I tried on during a press appointment there that left a lasting impression; until a Ms. Anna Wintour entered the boutique for her appointment directly after mine. 

Perhaps I should have named this drink, “Wintour.” After all, it does look a little dark and stormy.