29/05/2024
CLASSIC GIN COCKTAIL: THE LAST WORD*
“A four-way car crash in which no one is hurt, and everyone’s glad they met afterward.” That’s how Phil Ward, a former bartender at New York City’s Pegu Club, now the owner of Mayahuel described the Last Word.
According to cocktail lore, this drink was originally invented at the Detroit Athletic Club in the early 1900s and was popularised by the Vaudevillian performer, Frank Fogarty who is assumed to have taken the recipe back with him to New York. Over the next 30 years it remained popular enough to make it into publication in Ted Saucier’s 1951 cocktail book, “Bottoms Up!” But then it was lost to history.
Fast forward to 2003 when Seattle bartender Murray Stenson discovered it in an old copy of Saucier’s book and put it on his list at Seattle’s Zig Zag Café. The drink was a hit and its popularity quickly spread to the East Coast and onto the list of many of the world’s leading venues, including Audrey Saunders’ Pegu Club in New York. Enter Phil Ward and the car crash analogy along with his famous reinterpretation, The Final Ward (but that’s another story for another bar).
With equal parts gin, Green Chartreuse, maraschino liqueur and lime juice it is easy to make and stands up to serious interpretation. Like the Negroni, another equal parts classic, The Last Word has spanned many variations on its original theme. They are all great, but you can’t go past the original.
To make this at home, shake 20ml of Forty Spotted Classic gin, 20ml Green Chartreuse, 20ml of Luxardo Maraschino liqueur, 20ml of lime juice in a shaker over ice. Strain into a chilled glass. To garnish, zest with a twist of lime, then discard and garnish with a maraschino cherry.
*Each week we will celebrate a classic gin cocktail from the lexicon of modern drinks. Let us know if there’s a drink you’d like to see featured…
