Next to Last Word

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (101 ratings)

Photographed in a Waterford Mixology Coupe Clear

Ingredients:
1 oz Hayman's London Dry Gin
23 oz Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
23 oz Elderflower liqueur
56 oz Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
3 drop Saline solution 4:1 (20g sea salt to 80g water) optional
× 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.
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. Express lime zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 7/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 7/10

Review:

A floral riff on the classic Last Word with maraschino to the fore.

The original, equal-parts, recipe is a touch on the sweet side. The addition of saline solution subtly improves this cocktail.

View readers' comments

Nutrition:

One serving of Next to Last Word contains 165 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.2 standard drinks
  • 17.6% alc./vol. (17.6° proof)
  • 16.7 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.

Join the discussion

Showing 8 comments for Next to Last Word.
See discussion in the Forum

Please log in to make a comment
Werd Bmocsil’s Avatar Werd Bmocsil
27th March at 17:38
Surely it should be named Penultimate Word
Alexandre Lockfeld’s Avatar Alexandre Lockfeld
5th March 2024 at 01:04
Was looking for a Last Word variation to husband the remains of a small bottle of Chartreuse and found this. Made with Bombay Sapphire and used a Meyer lemon fresh off the indoor tree. It was fabulous! I used some salt as suggested and did not find it too sweet.
Dávid Ugróczi’s Avatar Dávid Ugróczi
5th August 2023 at 22:34
A but too sweet but otherwise perfect . The ingredients work really well together, but you need a strong, characterful gin (I used Tanqueray) to get a balanced result.
18th September 2023 at 07:51
The saline absolutely makes this sing
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
7th August 2023 at 21:00
Agreed. I've now moved away from the equal parts recipe in search of better balance. The addition of a few drops of saline also helps.
Smythe Richbourg’s Avatar Smythe Richbourg
5th August 2023 at 04:39
I was not prepared for how much I liked this! Though obviously not as deeply herbaceous as The Last Word, neither do any of the ingredients cost $60+/bottle! The cherry and elderflower play nicely with the lemon.
Herbert Brant’s Avatar Herbert Brant
21st January 2023 at 22:35
Flawless combination of flavors. No tweaking needed —the mix is perfect as written. Added to Favourites.
29th April 2022 at 12:05
might want to decease marachino to 1/2 oz and increase elderflower to 1 oz
John McTague’s Avatar John McTague
30th January 2021 at 19:16
This is delicious. I'll have to invest in a bottle of green chartreuse at some point to try the classic Last Word, but this is a great cocktail.
6th August 2020 at 03:52
Particularly delicate riff on the last word. Well balanced and easily drank. Very floral. Great pre-dinner.