Both the Last Word's name and the simplicity of its traditionally equal parts recipe lend themselves to adaptation. It is also very much a bartenders'...
Love a Last Word! It was re-popularized by a bartender in Seattle - Murray Stenson, who sadly died last month. I came up with a riff to celebrate the Seattle Sounders victory in the CONCACAF Champions League a couple of years ago, named for one of our strikers: Raúl Ruidíaz, who is Peruvian, so the drink includes pisco. The drink is the Último Raúl:
3/4 oz pisco
3/4 oz green Chartreuse
3/4 oz elderflower liqueur
3/4 oz lime juice
Shake ingredients and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
This sounds great... I now have to figure out how to get Pisco here in China... on the plus side then I can finally do a Pisco Sour at our restaurant as well....
Thank you for all of these riffs on such a great classic! I’ve been playing around with different recipes to utilize one of my favorite infusions; cacao-infused blanco tequila… and then it hit me! Equal parts cacao-infused blanco tequila, yellow chartreuse, lux marischino, and lime juice. Garnish with luxardo maraschino cherry. Also great when splitting the citrus between lime juice and grapefruit juice. ~Aztec Gold
I believe the cocktail you are looking for with Quince gin is the Last Drop. It was uploaded by a fellow Discerning Drinker, Giorgi Aleksishvili so you need to be logged in to be able to view it. I found it by going to our Cocktail Finder and, under By Base Spirit, selecting “Gin – Quince gin”. If you are logged in this search reveals two cocktails, one being the Last Drop.
Recently tried the Widow's Word, a mashup of the Widow's Kiss and Last Word which is essentially a Monte Cassino with the Rye replaced by Calvados or Apple Brandy --> Delicious!
Love the Last Word and it’s variants. Created my own by mashing up a Rusty Nail with the Last Word = Last Nail: equal parts, 3/4 oz each, smokey blended scotch, Benedictine, Maraschino liqueur, and lemon juice. No garnish.
I like a Shanghai gin (? Slanted door?) for a lemon version (when limes are ridiculously expensive and not juicy): Benedictine,gin, yellow chartreuse and lemon juice
I substituted El Tesoro reposado tequila for the mezcal in the Naked and Famous recipe at my bar and it was well received! Besides I couldn’t use the original name at a private golf club!
I ran into another variation in a bar near Princeton, kinda a cross between a Last Word and an Aviation: Lemon Juice, Gin, Maraschino, Chartreuse (yellow I think), and then 1/2 part of Violet Liqueur. They called it a Transcontinental.
Thanks for the extra info. Here's my version of the Transcontinental so far: 52.5ml dry gin, 10ml maraschino liqueur, 5ml Yellow Chartreuse, 7.5ml violet liqueur, 15ml lemon juice.
The Last Word appears on a Detroit Athletic Club menu dating from 1915, where it is the highest priced cocktail on the menu at 35¢. A Manhattan, for example, can be had for a mere 15¢. You will find several online images of the menu if you do an internet search.
I do love a Last Word and am enjoying working my way through the various riffs. Might I humbly add my own.
1. Equal parts Cachaca (I use Yaguara Branca), Chartreuse Verte, Maraschino and Lime Juice.
2. 2 parts Cachaca, 1 Lime juice, 1 Chartreuse Jaune, 1/2 Maraschino.
The Portuguese translation is a little obvious, so I was inspired by the Tom Tom Club to call the first, 'What are Words Worth?' The second, as its more of a departure from the original, 'I'll Drink my Words!'. Thoughts?