Last Word

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (1043 ratings)

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 oz Hayman's London Dry Gin
23 oz Green Chartreuse (or alternative herbal liqueur)
23 oz Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
23 oz Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
13 oz Chilled water omit if using wet ice
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of lime zest twist and skewered Luxardo Maraschino Cherries.
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. Express lime zest twist over cocktail and discard.
  6. Garnish with skewered cherry.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 9/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 7/10
Cocktail of the day:

10th June 2025 is The Biro's birthday

Review:

Traditionally made with equal parts gin, Green Chartreuse, maraschino liqueur, and lime juice but, like like many others, (when using a 40%-43% alc./vol. gin,) I like to slightly increase the proportion of gin. Chartreuse devotes will love this balanced, tangy cocktail. I'm one!

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History:

The earliest known written reference to the Last Word is among a list of cocktail names in a souvenir menu sent to members of the Detroit Athletic Club with the club's July-August 1916 issue of its magazine. There is no accompanying recipe, just the cocktail's name and its respective price among the other cocktails listed. At 35 Cents, the Last Word is twice the price of a Manhattan.

The Last Word's link to the Detroit Athletic Club is affirmed by notes accompanying the recipe in Ted Saucier's 1951 book Bottoms Up!.

LAST WORD
Courtesy Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit
This cocktail was first introduced here around thirty years ago by Frank Fogarty, who was very well known in vaudeville. He was called the 'Dublin Minstrel,' and was a very fine monologue artist.
1/4 dry gin
1/4 maraschino
1/4 chartreuse
1/4 lime juice
Ice
Serve in cocktail glass.

Ted Saucier, 1951

The Detroit Athletic Club, or the DAC, was established in 1887 by a bunch of young athletes with a clubhouse on Detroit's Woodward Avenue. The DAC was then reborn in 1913 by a group of prominent Detroit automotive and industrial leaders who built the magnificent six-story Clubhouse on Madison Avenue which opened in 1915 and remains the club's home to this day.

In his 1951 book, Ted Saucier says, "This cocktail was first introduced here around thirty years ago by Frank Fogarty." Thirty years prior to the 1951 publication date indicates circa 1920, a mere four years off when the Last Word appeared in that commemorative menu. When Saucier says, "around here," he means New York City, where his book was published, and Saucier was also the publicist for New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

But who was Frank Fogarty? Known as the 'The Dublin Minstrel', Frank Fogarty was a famous American theatre entertainer who was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, but from the age of two grew up and lived on Warren Street, Brooklyn, New York City. He broke into vaudeville (akin to today's stand-up comedy) in 1911 when he performed at the Orpheum in Brooklyn and became famous for his monologues, winning the New York Morning Telegraph contest for the most popular vaudeville performer in 1912. He typically opened his performance with a song and finished with a recitation - some surmise that this is where the drink's Last Word name emanates. Fogarty was quite a speaker who dabbled in politics, being elected president of the vaudeville actors' union in 1914.

Thanks to that menu from July 1916, it's certain that the Last Word was being served at the DAC at least five months before Fogerty, who is known to have visited the Club in December 1916. Hence, we can perhaps assume that Fogerty enjoyed a Last Word cocktail while at the club in December 1916, so much so that he asked for the recipe to enable him to request the cocktail at bars back in New York. Hence, his "introducing the Last Word around here" [New York] just before Prohibition. It could be that, knowing Fogerty was booked to visit, the bartenders at the DAC created the Last Word in his honour, hence its premium price and inclusion in that commemorative menu.

I favour the theory that the Last Word originated at the DAC over the other possibility: that Fogerty introduced the cocktail to the DAC during an earlier visit.

The Last Word continued to be popular after Prohibition and so found its way into in Ted Saucier's book. However, like so many cocktails, the Last Word fell out of favour to be forgotten. That was until 2003, when Murray Stenson, a bartender at the Zig Zag Café in Seattle, Washington, found the recipe in a 1952 copy of Saucier's book. Murray added the Last Word to the menu at the Zig Zag Café, where it was well-received by regulars. As Tan Vinh wrote in The Seattle Times on 11th March 2009, "The drink became a cult hit around Seattle, then Portland and was eventually picked up at cocktail dens in New York City, where many bartending trends are set. The Last Word then started to appear on drink menus in Chicago and San Francisco and spread to several cities in Europe - especially around London and Amsterdam - and beyond."

Over on America's East Coast, when Audrey Saunders opened Manhattan's Pegu Club in 2005, the Last Word was one of the cocktails championed by her team, including Phil Ward, the man responsible for both the Division Bell and the Final Ward, one of the best-known riffs on the Last Word.

The DAC was made aware of the Last Word cocktail when a Seattle newspaper asked about the famous cocktail that was so popular in Seattle. The DAC embraced the Last Word cocktail, returning it to its menu in 2009 and naming a new rooftop lounge after the cocktail.

Nutrition:

One serving of Last Word contains 185 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.6 standard drinks
  • 21.88% alc./vol. (21.88° proof)
  • 21.9 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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John CARR’s Avatar John CARR
18th May at 14:47
Made and consumed in a silken dressing gown courtesy Mr Geoffrey Stocker. Not much to say other than a bona fide classic. Unaccountably I was out of fresh limes, so used half/half grapefruit and lemon - perhaps slightly more lemon for the essential balancing acid. I believe an aviation or aviazione may also be in order.
Leo’s Avatar Leo
9th May at 06:09
Bang, bang, bang. It’s the drink that shows up in my mind when I have no clue for what to drink next. Miraculous drink
Cliff ’s Avatar Cliff
17th April at 01:50
3 words: just the best
Gabrielle14’s Avatar Gabrielle14
20th February at 01:47
A perfect cocktail. There’s nothing like the real deal… green chartreuse (no subs!).
Loïc Pierre’s Avatar Loïc Pierre
6th February at 23:54
Very herbal, with a nice balance, nothing seems too present...
Egg McKenzie’s Avatar Egg McKenzie
9th January at 07:48
it's simply unfuckingbeeatable
Natalie Campbell’s Avatar Natalie Campbell
16th October 2024 at 18:05
I used Green Bay Gin (because why not?). Didn’t have any fresh limes, so I used half and half reconstituted lime juice from a bottle and half sweetened lime juice. It was just right. Loved it and look forward to making this again. My bottle of Green Chartreuse is 3/4 gone, so a new bottle is going on my Xmas list. (I’ll get some limes in)
Mark’s Avatar Mark
8th September 2024 at 04:46
While closing argument is bold and somewhat funky, this is a very bright and crisp drink, after a 6 months struggle to get my hands on some chartreuse it sure is a delight to mix the Last Word once again.
Rob Simpson’s Avatar Rob Simpson
2nd August 2024 at 06:25
One of my favourites. Right this moment drinking something like a cherry last word variation of such a thing can exist. 30 ml tanqueray, 30 ml maraska marachino liqueur, 30 ml lime juice, 15 ml dolin vermouth blanc, 15 ml de kuyper cherry brandy.
Florian Ruf’s Avatar Florian Ruf
2nd June 2024 at 20:38
After trying many variations, what I really suggest, is returning to the original like coming home. It is still one of our top favorite cocktails. I suggest do Simon`s recipe with a bit more gin. And I am sorry to say, but IMHO there is no true replacement for Chartreuse.