The best cocktail I have encountered this summer was served up in, of all places, Plymouth, England.

Plymouth in the past was known for two things, neither of them fine cocktails. It was a major Royal Navy port, when Britain still had such a thing as a navy, and the home of Plymouth Gin. The latter should give you a hint about where the cocktail comes in.

Plymouth Gin had a hard time in the 20th century struggling under a succession of not particularly attentive owners but recently there has been a spurt of new investment in an attempt to revitalize the brand, and so far they seem to be doing a pretty pink gin of a job.

Today, Plymouth Gin is made in a building that dates it’s origins to a 15th century friary, and is still known as the Black Friars Distillery. The most intact part of the original building is the monks’ refectory, and this has been turned into one of the most spectacular and unusual cocktail bars I have ever been in. The magnificent hammerbeam ceiling must be the only one in the world under which super 21st century cocktails are regularly shaken, stirred and consumed.

The Refectory Bar, Plymouth, England

It was here that I encountered the Plymouth Gin version of the Singapore Sling, first invented in the famous Raffles Hotel in that city in about 1910, and I was so taken with it that I have been drinking it all summer with only a minor variation in the proportions to suit my taste.

Here’s the recipe.

2.5 oz Plymouth Gin
dash Cherry Herring
splash Benedictine
juice ½ lemon
¼ oz simple syrup or ½ packet of Equal
ginger ale to taste
crushed ice

Shake the gin, syrup/Equal, and lemon juice over ice.
Strain into sling glass three quarters full of cubed ice.
Top with crushed ice and ginger ale.
Lace with a dash each of Cherry Herring and Benedictine.

It looks very pretty as it is but tastes better when the ingredients are given a stir.