Whitley Neill Aloe And Cucumber Gin

Whitley Neill traces back to a family that has distilled since 1762, though Johnny Neill came to it the long way round, by way of a career in finance before passion pulled him home. His first gin landed in 2004, inspired by African botanicals, and this expression carries the same wanderlust: a trip to South Africa lent it the cooling pairing of aloe and cucumber, set against the classic juniper, coriander, orris root, angelica, orange, lemon and cassia bark.

The nose is juniper and citrus with clear cucumber and aloe behind. The palate is fresh and green, cucumber and aloe lifted by orange and lemon, the finish long and clean. This is a gin that wants a tall glass on a warm day: pour it over plenty of ice with a light tonic and a ribbon of cucumber, and it does the rest.