I’ve decided to start off our brand new cocktail series with a classic spirit-based drink served straight up, without ice, mixers, or any of those other wretched things that tend to ruin a perfectly good drink. A favourite of mine, often one I end up on at the end of an evening of drinking, is based of perhaps my favourite spirit of all, gin. The Last Word is a prohibition-era cocktail consisting of equal parts gin, green Chartreuse, maraschino liqueur, and fresh lime juice, shaken over ice and served straight up in a chilled glass. Generally it’s served in a martini glass, but I’ve used this taller vintage sherry glass instead to give it that modern chicness.
As this is a gin-forward drink, I recommend using a finer gin, like Bulldog, which combines over twelve botanicals like poppy, dragon eye, lotus leaves, citrus, almond, lavender and of course juniper. The Last Word taste perfectly balances sour and herbal notes while being slightly sweet and sharp all at once.
An excellent palate cleanser after a night of boozing.
Ingredients:
3/4 oz Bulldog Gin
3/4 oz Green Chartreuse
3/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
3/4 oz Fresh Lime Juice
Method:
Combine ingredients in the larger portion of a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake like you mean it until the cocktails shaker becomes uncomfortable to hold. Strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a lime twist or Luxardo cherry.
Hints:
Use large chunks of ice to shake to avoid water melting into the drink while shaking. Double strain the final product through a fine conical cocktail sieve to eliminate any shards of ice or pulp.
