Name: Vieille Place
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 25 ml Bourbon whiskey; 25 ml Cognac (brandy); 20 ml Gentian liqueur; 15 ml Dry vermouth; 5 ml Amaretto liqueur; 5 ml Sugar syrup (2:1); 1 dash Creole bitters; 1 dash Aromatic bitters

Vieille Place
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Photographed in an UB 1910 Old Fashioned 10.5oz

Ingredients:
⁵⁄₆ oz	Bourbon whiskey
⁵⁄₆ oz	Rémy Martin V.S.O.P. cognac
²⁄₃ oz	Gentian liqueur (e.g. Suze, Salers etc)
¹⁄₂ oz	Strucchi Dry Vermouth
¹⁄₆ oz	Disaronno amaretto
¹⁄₆ oz	Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
1 dash	Peychaud's or other Creole-style bitters
1 dash	Angostura Aromatic Bitters

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill an Old-fashioned glass.
Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.
STIR all ingredients with ice.
STRAIN into ice-filled glass (preferably over a large cube or chunk of block ice).
EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Dry vermouth - Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Spirit-forward and bittersweet, yet balanced and eminently drinkable. Reminiscent of an old-fashioned, but with the option to enjoy as an aperitif.

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History:

Adapted from a recipe created in 2018 by Robbie Neskens at Bruut, Hasselt, Belgium. Robbie says, "This cocktail is a twist on the classic Vieux Carré. Vieux Carré and Vieille Place both have the same meaning: Old Square. With the difference Vieux Carré being masculine and Vieille Place feminine."

Nutrition:

One serving of Vieille Place contains 207 calories

Alcohol content:

1.7 standard drinks
24.38% alc./vol. (24.38° proof)
23.3 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Showing 10 of 14 comments for Vieille Place.
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Simon Sedgley

25th April at 15:26

It's lovely but we'll stick to the original...life's too short for so many ingredients.

Justin Aniello

16th April at 22:24

Agree on halving the simple syrup, left everything else the same. First time made per the recipe and was a little cloying. Suze is the dominant flavor but everything still comes through, very balanced with perfect hint of bitterness. Like this a smidge over the Vieux Carre however both are excellent and doing different things. A new favorite.

Simon Difford

21st April at 19:56

Thanks, Justin and others below. Agreed, I've halved the sugar syrup to just 5ml (1 barspoon).

Oliver James

21st May 2024 at 19:34

Superb drink, but strongly recommend reducing the sweetness. The bitterness of the Suze really adds depth, but it is knocked out of whack by the Amaretto and the Simple Syrup. I bought a bottle of Suze just for this and I am glad I did!

Ian Fenton

3rd May 2024 at 11:01

I made it with 20mL Bianco vermouth and no sugar syrup which worked well served straight up, although I did find the Suze a bit too dominant and I would cut that back next time (though I expect the both the extra bitterness and the extra sweetness are required when served on ice).

Florian Berry

20th April 2024 at 20:04

Outstanding to be honest. Very surprised by this. I love drinking Vieux carré but this one oh boy...

Asher Günther

22nd June 2023 at 07:28

Incredible drink. Personally I found the recipe as written slightly lacking in the bite I want from a spirit-forward drink, but upping to 3cl of each spirit solved that. I was initially skeptical about the 2:1 syrup:Amaretto ratio, but the Amaretto shines through more than you'd imagine. Love what the Suze brings without becoming overpowering.

Kelley Reece

5th May 2022 at 23:00

I liked this a lot! This may be heretical but I think you could almost skip the vermouth… delicious recipe regardless.

Andy Parnell-Hopkinson

15th April 2022 at 17:10

So many ingredients - and this selection - should be illegal. But goddammit it's divine.

John McTague

31st July 2021 at 22:36

Really enjoyed this. Reduced the simple syrup by half.

Bertrand Péraut

5th November 2021 at 19:50

I agree about the syrup !

Melissa Demian

18th June 2021 at 22:30

I took down the bourbon by about 5 ml because I found it dominated an otherwise complex cocktail, and substituted my homemade whitebeam liqueur for the amaretto. Absolutely gorgeous. P.S. To the previous commenter, cocktails don't have genders.

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