It's Monday, you're back at work, and you need a drink at the end of a long day. How about an Atomic Cocktail?

It's a rather easy recipe: fill a high ball glass with 2/3 with ice and then throw in 2 oz. each of grapefruit juice and pineapple juice, 1 oz. of Plymouth Gin, and 1/2 of Galliano.

I even like the name. Atomic Cocktail. I don't know how retro it is, but it certainly sounds it.

We continue our week of spotlighting bartenders from The Improper Bostonian's "Beloved Bartender" issue.

It isn't every day that you get a cocktail with the word "sock" in it, so this drink caught my eye. It's the signature drink of Ari Barbanell. She's a bartender at Chez Henri in Boston. Well, Cambridge, to be precise.

Plymouth Gin made in Plymouth, England is bottled at 82 proof/41.2% abv and is distilled in the Black Friars Distillery, the oldest working distillery in England. The name and style are protected and Plymouth is the only brand that can call itself a Plymouth style gin. I think that Plymouth is one of the best gins out there. I am usually into aromatic gins full of big botanicals and juniper, Plymouth doesn't have that great, big slam of some other gins but is light, exceptionally smooth, creamy, and subtle with little bite. Probably in part due to the extremely soft Dartmouth water used in the distillation process. It has a hint of sweetness and the seven botanicals give it a fruity note with a big aroma, but it's also crisp and dry. It's hard to describe, but very nice. It's what I consider to have the classic gin taste. Interestingly enough Plymouth is the gin specified in the original dry martini. Plymouth also makes a higher strength version at 114 proof/57% abv called "Navy Strength" as well as some other products but I haven't tried them yet.

As a side note: I originally heard about this gin in John H. McDonald's mystery books on Travis McGee where Travis the hero is known to have ice cold mugs of Plymouth on the rocks as the way to end a perfect day. After the fabulous description I had to search Plymouth out to try it and I recommend McDonald's excellent books as much as I do Plymouth gin.