Final Ward

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (277 ratings)
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    Final Ward

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Final Ward image

Glass:

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
3⁄4 fl oz Straight rye whiskey (100 proof /50% alc./vol.)
3⁄4 fl oz Green Chartreuse (or alternative herbal liqueur)
3⁄4 fl oz Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
3⁄4 fl oz Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

  1. Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
  2. Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist and skewered Luxardo Maraschino Cherries.

How to make:

  1. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  2. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish:

  1. EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and discard.
  2. Garnish with skewered maraschino cherries.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 9/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 6/10
More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

The Last Word is classically made with gin, maraschino, Chartreuse and lime juice. In this riff, whiskey replaces the gin, and Mr Ward switches citrus fruits from lime to lemon.

View readers' comments

Variations/similar cocktails:

20 best Last Word variations

History:

Perhaps the best-known riff on the classic Last Word, it was created in 2007 by Phil Ward at Death & Co., New York City, USA.

More cocktails by Phil Ward

Nutrition:

One serving of Final Ward contains 184 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.7 standard drinks
  • 25.2% alc./vol. (50.4° proof)
  • 24.3 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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Tuber Magnatum’s Avatar Tuber Magnatum
5th June at 23:01
Tried this again prompted by recent email from Difford's Guide revisiting Simon's selection of the 20 best Maraschino Liqueur cocktails. I rated this excellent (5) the first time last year but made a note to try with upping the Bourbon which I did to 1oz. I will be changing rating to 5+!
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Rob San’s Avatar Rob San
6th June at 17:59
Just curious...are you using rye or low/no rye bourbon?
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1 reply
trendomexico’s Avatar trendomexico
1st June at 01:44
If the last word variations with rhum has the peril of touching the edges of daiquiri, I am afraid -even when this is good-, is rubbing the Peninciline neighborhood -very different yes in the ingredients, but the taste is familiar-. In a way this travel of all the 'Last Words' is like those toys were you had Winnie the Poo disguised as tiger, as Kanga and as Roo. Every time it changes from Rhum, to Tequila, to Mezcal, to Whisky, is sort of a disguise party of each into being something familiar but different.
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Edward Moore’s Avatar Edward Moore
4th April at 01:54
I did enjoy this, but will probably make it again and halve the Chartreuse and Luxardo and double the rye.
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Matt’s Avatar Matt
5th November 2025 at 02:37
Last Word variants are almost full-proof, and this is works well. However, while I'm sure the rye is in there (I put it in myself) it is buried under the (delicous) green chartreuse and maraschino. Lemon brightens and lifts the drink acidity to better match the maraschino than the chartreuse without diminishing any of the chartreuse herb/spice complexity.
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Simon Sedgley’s Avatar Simon Sedgley
11th October 2025 at 13:17
For us this was pleasant enough, if a bit one-dimensional. Things got a bit more interesting when we added a dash or two of grapefruit bitters.
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Rob San’s Avatar Rob San
6th June at 18:07
Grapefruit bitters can really alter a flavor profile. 1-2 drops tone down sweetness in drinks using citrus... or simply a drink that would otherwise be cloyingly sweet. Absolutely imperative in a favorite of mine... https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/36772/walthalls-white-negroni
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Egg McKenzie’s Avatar Egg McKenzie
10th May 2025 at 21:46
Truly excellent. Perhaps more balanced than the OG?
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Yorey C’s Avatar Yorey C
25th November 2024 at 05:17
delicious, predictably. not too sour, stuff usually is for me. well balanced, but for my taste i might want to bump up the rye by 50% or more.
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Daniel Ortiz’s Avatar Daniel Ortiz
13th November 2024 at 23:54
This is a great drink! I made a slight modification and used two parts rye (split between Old Forester and Alberta Premium Cask Strength) to one part everything else and it is lovely.
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Andrew Geoghegan’s Avatar Andrew Geoghegan
2nd November 2024 at 18:01
I was a bit on autopilot today and made this like a ‘closing argument’ replacing the mezcal with rye - meaning lime not lemon. It was pretty good. Will now have to try this properly. Poor me!
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Sharon Kulvinskas’ Avatar Sharon Kulvinskas
4th April 2024 at 21:04
This is very good the lemon juice gives it a sour kick that I like. I used Luxardo Perla Dry because that’s what I had and it is extra boozy, I like that too!
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