Name: Penultimate Word
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 30 ml Gin; 20 ml Orange-red aperitivo; 20 ml Maraschino liqueur; 20 ml Lemon juice

Penultimate Word
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Glass:

Photographed in an Urban Bar Retro Optic Coupette 15cl

Ingredients:
1 fl oz	Hayman's London Dry Gin
²⁄₃ fl oz	Bittersweet orange-red aperitivo
²⁄₃ fl oz	Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
²⁄₃ fl oz	Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.

How to make:

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

Garnish:

EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

A bittersweet and sweet 'n' sour riff on a Last Word that's lighter and easier going than many others.

View readers' comments

History:

Adapted from a recipe created in 2009 by Matthew Hupert and named by Dan Chadwick.

Nutrition:

One serving of Penultimate Word contains 161 calories

Alcohol content:

1.2 standard drinks
17.12% alc./vol. (34.25° proof)
16.5 grams of pure alcohol

More Aperitivo/aperitif cocktails
More Bittersweet (e.g. Negroni) cocktails
More Sours (citrus) cocktails

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 11 comments for Penultimate Word.
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Beth Schneider

17th May at 18:29

Definitely aperol forward, although the lemon juice and Maraschino are quite pronounced. Oddly by texture it felt diluted.

Beverly Stanton

28th February at 23:57

Great balanced cocktail. Flavors blend perfectly.

Florian Ruf

24th February at 15:02

We found the garnish an especially important part of the taste and therefore used a Nick&Nora.

Cullen F

24th January at 03:27

Made this exactly as prescribed. Really did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did.

The maraschino and Aperix play off each other surprisingly well, creating an interesting evolution. The Tanqueray is a bit lost, but not in a bad way, more just a supporting role. Very much enjoyed, I think Aperix works perfectly for the aperitivo with the maraschino, might try playing with different gins in the future.

Peter M

18th February at 01:06

FWIW, Hayman's London Dry Gin seemed to work well for me.

Andy Parnell-Hopkinson

26th October 2025 at 21:35

Tad sweet - better to up the bitter and dry ingredients.

Juniper Lately

5th November 2025 at 22:10

I didn’t have aperol so made it with Campari and just a drop of sugar syrup - very nice and not too sweet.

Katie ALLEN

24th October 2025 at 14:50

Lovely cocktail. I’m not an Aperol fan as too sweet but this is just right for it. Not too alcoholic either!

Kevin Haynes

13th October 2025 at 01:41

I was not expecting to enjoy this as much as I did! It might really be the next to the Last Word!

Marie-Therese Straus

11th October 2025 at 03:16

A lovely drink with a refreshing, intriguing flavour profile. I used Aperitivo Mazzura and cut the maraschino back a wee bit but this still had interesting herbal notes and a very pretty colour. I'll definitely make this again.

Joshua Perez

3rd October 2025 at 06:46

A much better name than "Gin-Vision Bell," the gin riff on the mezcal base "Division Bell."

Calvin Grant

21st September 2025 at 03:21

Plenty orangey, in a good way what with the Aperol and a generous zest. The lemon juice was very pronounced, might try reducing it and the maraschino so it doesn't get to sweet.