{"id":239839,"date":"2025-05-13T12:34:34","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T12:34:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/alcohol\/the-best-last-word-cocktail-recipe-according-to-experts\/"},"modified":"2025-05-13T12:34:34","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T12:34:34","slug":"the-best-last-word-cocktail-recipe-according-to-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=239839","title":{"rendered":"The Best Last Word Cocktail Recipe, According to Experts"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

To conduct a Last Word tasting in 2025 might seem a bit… random. Once a popular bartender\u2019s handshake during the early years of the cocktail revival, the drink\u2019s best years seem to be behind it, at least in certain cocktail circles. \u201cA Last Word was the first drink I made for myself as a bartender,\u201d says Shannan Lynch of New York\u2019s Bar Kabawa, \u201cbut I don\u2019t really drink them anymore.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Experts Featured<\/h3>\n
\n

Chloe Frechette<\/strong> is the executive editor of Punch.

\nShannan Lynch<\/strong> is a bartender at Bar Kabawa in New York City.

\nLizzie Munro<\/strong> is the art director of Punch.

\nMolly Rhom<\/strong> is a bartender at Brooklyn\u2019s Grand Army.

\nTom Wolfson<\/strong> is a bartender at Sunken Harbor Club in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Much of the cocktail\u2019s early success hinged on the cherry liqueur that made replicating the pre-Prohibition drink possible in the first place: <\/span>maraschino<\/span><\/a>. But what was once hailed as a miracle worker, capable of bringing forgotten drinks back to life, quickly went from darling to divisive thanks to its polarizing flavor.<\/span><\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

Even as its audience dwindled, though, the Last Word never really went away. \u201cWe would get orders for them all the time at Gage & Tollner,\u201d says Tom Wolfson, who worked behind the bar at the historic Brooklyn steakhouse before moving upstairs to Sunken Harbor Club. The same is true at Grand Army, the Brooklyn bar where we recently convened to taste through nine examples of the drink submitted by bartenders across the country. Head bartender Patty Dennison noted that it\u2019s not uncommon for guests to call for the classic with mezcal in lieu of the traditional gin.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n


\n
\n <\/p>\n

For certain drink enthusiasts, the Last Word can be a way to telegraph a level of cocktail literacy and an openness to challenging flavors. But those same flavors leave many\u2014including several of the assembled judges\u2014split in their affection for the drink. Wolfson was the lone defender of the classic and is a stark traditionalist when it comes to the ingredients, ratio and garnish of the Last Word\u2014he even keeps a note in his phone tallying the way the drink is served from bar to bar: cherry in, out, on a pick. Grand Army bartender Molly Rhom, Lynch and I find the maraschino to be a not altogether pleasant flavor, but agreed that it plays an important role in an equal-parts cocktail whose four ingredients are all power hitters.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Across the board, we were looking for a Last Word that successfully balanced its four components such that each ingredient was perceptible, but none was domineering. This often meant sticking to the equal-parts formula, and leaning on an assertive gin (or sometimes bumping up the gin quotient) to match the intensity of the green Chartreuse, maraschino and lime juice. As Wolfson stated, \u201cThere are only two acceptable variables in a Last Word: the garnish and the gin, and even with the gin, it has to be London dry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

The last time we <\/span>went in search of the ultimate Last Word<\/span><\/a> was in 2018, when Chartreuse was considered mandatory. This time, acknowledging that <\/span>shortages<\/span><\/a> have made it harder for bars and consumers to find the liqueur, substitutes like <\/span>Boomsma Claerkampster Cloosterbitter<\/span><\/a> were given fair consideration.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The unanimous winner was Richard Boccato\u2019s Last Word<\/a> from Dutch Kills in Queens, New York. Upon the drink\u2019s arrival, Wolfson observed, \u201cEven just visually, this looks like what a Last Word should look like.\u201d The recipe calls for a heavy three-quarters of an ounce of lime juice, and three-quarters of an ounce each of Maraska maraschino syrup (equal parts Maraska and simple syrup), green Chartreuse and Monkey 47 gin, garnished with a sunken cherry and a spritz of lime oil over the surface. Lizzie Munro, Punch\u2019s art director, found it to be \u201csweet in the right way, tart in the right way,\u201d almost like a limesicle. By splitting the Maraska with simple syrup, Boccato avoided the drying quality that the liqueur can have, and the lime twist gave it a welcome aromatic pop. \u201cIf I go to a bar and I order a Last Word and I get that,\u201d said Wolfson, \u201cI\u2019m happy.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Taking second place was the Last Word from Joe Stinchcomb<\/a> of Bar Muse in Oxford, Mississippi. On paper, the drink is a bit of a departure from the classic. He abandons the equal-parts formula in favor of an ounce each of navy-strength gin and Chartreuse, three-quarters of an ounce of lime juice and a mere half-ounce of Luxardo maraschino\u2014no garnish. The judges found it on the dry side, but ultimately liked the dialed-down maraschino. As for the lack of garnish, the judges were split, with three out of five preferring a cherry in the drink.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In third place, <\/span>Paddy O\u2019Brien\u2019s Last Word<\/span><\/a>, from the aptly named Last Word bar in Queens, was the only example to use a domestic gin. His recipe, which took top honors at our prior Last Word tasting, bumps up the gin\u2014Warwick Rustic Gin from upstate New York\u2014to an ounce, followed by the expected three-quarters of an ounce for the remaining ingredients. It\u2019s served with a sidecar containing a little extra of the drink, plus a maraschino cherry. The judges found it pleasantly perfumed, and appreciated the thoughtfulness of its presentation. As Rhom noted, \u201cIt solves the cherry issue perfectly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To conduct a Last Word tasting in 2025 might seem a bit… random. Once a popular bartender\u2019s handshake during the early years of the cocktail revival, the drink\u2019s best years seem to be behind it, at least in certain cocktail circles. \u201cA Last Word was the first drink I made for myself as a bartender,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":239840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12029],"tags":[8990,11595,5521,61541,3644],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-239839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alcohol","tag-cocktail","tag-experts","tag-recipe","tag-the-ultimate-series","tag-word"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Best Last Word Cocktail Recipe, According to Experts - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=239839\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Best Last Word Cocktail Recipe, According to Experts - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To conduct a Last Word tasting in 2025 might seem a bit… random. Once a popular bartender\u2019s handshake during the early years of the cocktail revival, the drink\u2019s best years seem to be behind it, at least in certain cocktail circles. \u201cA Last Word was the first drink I made for myself as a bartender,\u201d […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=239839\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-13T12:34:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Social-Ultimate-Best-Last-Word-Cocktail-Recipe.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=239839#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=239839\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"The Best Last Word Cocktail Recipe, According to Experts\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-13T12:34:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=239839\"},\"wordCount\":906,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=239839#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Social-Ultimate-Best-Last-Word-Cocktail-Recipe.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Cocktail\",\"experts\",\"Recipe\",\"the ultimate series\",\"Word\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alcohol\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=239839#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=239839\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=239839\",\"name\":\"The Best Last Word Cocktail Recipe, According to Experts - 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