Refreshing and refined, our No.3 London Dry Gin is excellent in cocktails. This week, we take a closer look at The Last Word, a zesty 1920s cocktail. Pour yourself a glass and step back in time to a Prohibition-era world.

The story of The Last Word is as colourful as its name. The cocktail first appeared in print in Ted Saucier’s bartender’s manual Bottoms Up!, published in 1951. Tracing its origins to the Detroit Athletic Club, Saucier writes: “This cocktail was introduced around here about thirty years ago by Frank Fogarty, who was very well known in vaudeville. He was called the ‘Dublin Minstrel’, and was a very fine monologue artist.”

Its name might come from Frank Fogarty’s vaudeville performances, which always started with a song and ended with a recital. Although today, the Last Word is considered a famous Prohibition-era cocktail, it spent decades in obscurity. It was rediscovered in 2004 by Seattle bartender Murray Stenson, who happened across Saucier’s manual. Its popularity in Seattle soon spread to New York, where it finally found fame. From there, onto Chicago, San Francisco – then London, Amsterdam and beyond. Although the Dublin Minstrel died in 1925, it seems he finally got the last word.

How to make The Last Word

• 30ml No.3 London Dry Gin
• 20ml Chartreuse
• 20ml Maraschino liqueur
• 20ml lime juice
• Garnish with a lime twist

Combine the ingredients in a cocktail shaker. If you don’t have a cocktail shaker, you can use a jar with a tight lid. Shake the ingredients with ice, then fine strain the liquid into a chilled glass.

Discover the story behind our No.3 London Dry Gin here.