Name: Paper Plane
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 22.5 ml Bourbon whiskey; 22.5 ml Amaro Nonino Quintessentia; 22.5 ml Orange-red aperitivo; 22.5 ml Lemon juice

Paper Plane
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Photographed in an Urban Bar Retro Optic Coupette 15cl

Ingredients:
³⁄₄ oz	Bourbon whiskey
³⁄₄ oz	Amaro Nonino Quintessentia
³⁄₄ oz	Bittersweet orange-red aperitivo
³⁄₄ oz	Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
Prepare garnish of miniature paper plane skewered or pegged to rim (&/or lemon zest twist).
SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
Garnish with miniature paper plane skewered or pegged to rim (&/or lemon zest twist).

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Bittersweet with underlying bourbon character and lemon zestiness.

View readers' comments

Variant:

Based on straight rye whiskey rather than bourbon.
20 best Last Word variations

History:

A riff on the Last Word created in 2007 by Sam Ross for The Violet Hour in Chicago, Illinois. He first made it with Amaro Nonino Quintessentia and Campari but switched Campari out for a less bitter aperitivo liqueur soon after creating the cocktail when he started making it at New York's Milk & Honey. Sam says, "This cocktail is named after the M.I.A. track that was blasting on repeat the summer we worked on the drink."

More cocktails by Sam Ross

Nutrition:

One serving of Paper Plane contains 168 calories

Alcohol content:

1.1 standard drinks
16.73% alc./vol. (16.73° proof)
15.1 grams of pure alcohol

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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 68 comments for Paper Plane.
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Sterling Diesel

13th April at 05:37

A great riff on the Paper Plane if you want something jucier to quench your thirst on a hot day

Cardboard Plane
1 oz. bourbon (regular Four Roses is great, i especially love it with 1792)
0.75 oz. Cointreau
0.5 oz. Amaro Meletti
0.75 oz. lemon juice
0.5 oz. grapefruit juice

Add all ingredients to a tin and shake hard on ice. Double strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice and garnish with a grapefruit peel. (I prefer it with 2 drops of 4:1 saline)

From the Lions Share in San Diego California

Werd Bmocsil

16th April at 22:03

Dang it! I just used up my Meletti!

1 reply

Frederic D.

4th April at 21:55

Another Mr. Potato Head variation: Amrut Fusion, lemon, Bigallet China-China, and Ramazzotti. It came out both darker and dryer, but also a bit more complex, and with very light smoke on the swallow. I have yet to apply thus formula in a way that wasn't at the very least pleasant and drinkable.

Jeremy Craig

24th March at 12:00

Would it be a travesty to sub Averna for the Nonino ?

Susan Williams

25th March at 21:59

We love making it with Averna. Not as prettily orange, but very delicious and a bit more robust.

John CARR

25th March at 10:53

Montenegro would be closer. Relatively lighter and sweeter and without the cola + orange type flavour.

Peter McCarthy

28th February at 01:02

50/50 mix of Wild Turkey 101 & 81 bourbon works really well for this; good balance of sweet, sour, & bitter, with the richness of the bourbon and amaro lying underneath. Makes you want to keep going back for another sip.

alan burton

21st February at 14:27

Made the cocktail at a gathering I loved it but everyone else absolutely hated it, maybe one for a niche crowd.

Martin Boyer

16th February at 22:55

The cocktail is perfect 'as is'. I've made variations using Barolo Chinato as a substitute for the Amaro Nonion, and using Yuzu juice and Chinola (b/c I don't know chit from Chinola haha) as a lemon juice substitute. Both are very very good.

Frederic D.

17th January at 02:13

Today's version wentva bit off script: it was made with High West Campfire (a mix of bourbon, rye, and peated Scotch); Aperitivo Nonino; Aachener Domliqueur (a spiced liqueur from Germany) in lieu of Amaro Nonino; and of course lemon juice. This came out great - tart, spiced, with complexity from the Aperitivo, and just a hint of smoke on the swallow.

Rose Morgan

24th December 2024 at 20:09

I’ve had a fantastic variation dubbed a Pearoplane, adding in some pear purée. The result is obviously much sweeter, but the herbal and bitter notes still come through in an old fashioned pear drop candy flavour

Douglas Systrom

4th December 2024 at 19:29

I occasionally replace bourbon with a quality amber rum and some have called it a Paper Boat. Looking up Paper Boat there seem to be several variations.

Simon Difford

5th December 2024 at 10:59

I've heard of others doing the same and will add this version to Difford's Guide. I've also seen a Paper Boat made into a long drink, but that seems too much of a stretch from the Paper Plane.

1 reply

Paul MATEJCEK

4th December 2024 at 03:48

Bourbon, Campari, Aperol, and lemon juice make a fine Paper Plane! Some folks on the west coast are replacing the lemon with lime, calling it Ruby Sippers.

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