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Time for a Drink: The Last Word

Posted by Paul Clarke, October 12, 2007 at 5:30 PM

Let's get this weekend started right. Here's a cocktail to kick things off. Need more than one? That kinda week, eh? Here you go. Cheers!

You could call the Last Word the true zombie of the cocktail world. Unlike the Zombie—that venerable tiki concoction which was constantly altered over the years, but which never actually disappeared—the Last Word was created and was then promptly forgotten for decades, before being brought back to life—rising from the grave, as it were—stronger and more powerful than ever.

The Last Word dates to Prohibition, as far as anyone can tell, and except for a brief mention in Bottoms Up!—a 1951 cocktail manual by Ted Saucier—the drink languished in obscurity until about four years ago, when Seattle bartender Murray Stenson dusted off the recipe and began serving the drink to customers at Zig Zag Café. Fast-forward to the present day, and the Last Word is a fully revived classic, gracing the bar menus in cities around the globe. More popular now than it ever was in its youth, the Last Word is a surprisingly tasty balance of four ingredients working in perfect unison. Mix one up this weekend, and make up for lost time.

About the author: Paul Clarke blogs about cocktails at The Cocktail Chronicles and writes regularly on spirits and cocktails for Imbibe magazine. He lives in Seattle, where he works as a writer and magazine editor.

Last Word

Ingredients

3/4 ounce gin
3/4 ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice
3/4 ounce maraschino liqueur
3/4 ounce green Chartreuse

Procedure

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice, and shake briskly for 10 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

2 Comments | Tags: alcohol, Cocktails, gin, liquor, maraschino liqueur, spirits

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