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Swiss Watch

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (34)
Swiss Watch image
Measurements in:
Serves:
1
Ingredients
1 fl oz Kirschwasser (cherry) eau-de-vie
1 fl oz Gentian liqueur Gentian liqueur (e.g. Suze, Avèze, Salers)
1 fl oz Yellow Chartreuse (or génépy liqueur)
2⁄3 fl oz Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

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How to make

Glassware

Serve in an Old-fashioned glass

Prepare

  1. Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.
  2. RIM glass with sugar (moisten the outside edge with lemon or orange juice and dip into sugar).
  3. Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.

Method

  1. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  2. FINE STRAIN into ice-filled sugar rimmed glass.

Garnish

  1. EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish, halved with the shape of 'V', to show the time 2pm.

Flavour Profile

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Health & Nutrition

Nutrition:

One serving of Swiss Watch contains 219 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.8 standard drinks
  • 21.26% alc./vol. (42.51° proof)
  • 25.1 grams of pure alcohol

Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

History

Created in 2017 by Peter Konkoly at The Arts Club, London, England, who describes this as "An alpine variation of The Last Word cocktail, using ingredients found in the Alps (Chartreuse), Switzerland (Kirschwasser) and nearby."

The Last Word is one of my favourite refreshers. I've replaced the gin with kirschwasser to give the cherry taste that maraschino gives The Last Word. I've swapped Green to Yellow Chartreuse for the colour and lighter herbal taste, and lime for lemon juice, and I used Suze for the sweet bitterness in lieu of maraschino. The powdered sugar rim is to make it sweeter and symbolize the snow of the Swiss mountains.

Peter Konkoly, 2017

Review

As Peter Konkoly, this cocktail's creator, says, it is reminiscent of a Last Word. However, we prefer this tasty drink served on-the-rocks as an aperitif alternative to a Negroni, rather than straight-up as originally specified by Peter.

Variations/similar cocktails

View over 50 Last Word variations.

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Makes a minimum of 25 cocktails.
Shipping and applicable tax calculated at checkout.


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Comments & Discussion

trendomexico Premium Member
Its delicious. always less suze, like everybody else says here. Now, the only -cherry- was Luxardo Cherry Sangue, and is very tasty . Ths Suze and the Y Chartreuse sparks here. but gives a lot of flavorS. My last word is that maybe this is not a last word but is lovely.
score: 2
Simon Sedgley Premium Member
We do a variant of this whereby we substitute 25ml Nonino Grappa and 5ml Luxardo Cherry Sangue Morlacco for the eau-de-vie. That way, we can keep the Suze at 30ml, as specified. Nice and bold and luscious for us.
score: 2
Simon Sedgley Premium Member
Coming back to this, we've now decided that, in place of the eau-de-vie, the split that offers the best balance is 20ml Grappa and 10ml Cherry Liqueur. A sweet spot for us.
score: 1
Frederic D. Premium Member
Like others below, I cut the Suze to 3/4. I also increased the kirsch to 1 1/4 and replaced the sugar rim with 1/3 simple syrup (you really need the bit of extra sweetness, I think). All in all an excellent drink, leading off with mild cherry before transitioning to herbal notes, and finishing off with mild gentian bitterness.
score: 1
David Brockley
I never comment but this is absolutely phenomenal. Admittedly I can't taste the Kirsch but my bottle of G. Miclo has been open a long time. This is no bad thing however, as when it was fresh I really didn't like it! Don't know why but I prefer a great many cocktails on the rocks (like here) rather than up.
score: 3
Moss Hope
This is yummy! I do recommend cutting back the gentian liquor ( I used aveze) and scaled it down a bit to fit more nicely in a highball glass.

so 3/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1/2
score: 2
Moss Hope
With the gentian equal parts to the other spirits you lose parts of the chartreuse and most of the cherry notes from the kirsch
score: 2
[removed]
Comment removed
Benjamin Reed
Yeah, it’s a bit much as-is, I imagine I’ll like your variant of it more. Will have to give it another shot.
score: 1

View 5 comments and discussion

See more...

Difford’s Shop logo
$1.32 per cocktail*

Makes a minimum of 25 cocktails.
Shipping and applicable tax calculated at checkout.


Orders are processed by a licensed Fulproof retailer. The buy now button is added simply for convenience.

Checkout

* May not include all ingredients. Price per cocktail is an estimate based on cost of one cocktail with ingredients shown above and does not include shipping.

Visit Difford’s Shop USA

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