A quick heads-up before diving into the story: I've set aside for you a complete shopping list of every ingredient you'll need so you can recreate this classic at home. Here's the tale.
The Paper Plane was created in 2008 by the legendary Sam Ross (the same man behind the Penicillin) for the opening of "The Violet Hour" in Chicago. The name is a tribute to the song "Paper Planes" by M.I.A., which was dominating radios that year. The cocktail uses equal parts of four ingredients, an elegant and almost mathematical combination: bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino and lemon juice.
The Paper Plane became an instant classic of the modern craft cocktail era, popularized as a perfectly balanced template between sweet, sour, bitter and citrus. A cocktail that feels like a liquid paper airplane: light, elegant, but with perfect trajectory. In 2020 it was added to the IBA official list, a rarity for a millennial cocktail.
To recreate this one with the right style, tools matter as much as the recipe. I use and recommend a complete barman kit like this set on Amazon, which covers every essential tool at a very reasonable price. For a more serious setup, a professional cocktail bar station keeps bottles, glasses and tools organized and close at hand, instantly upgrading the whole experience.