The year 2020 prevented most consumers from living their best lives due to the nationwide lockdown. This meant that they were not able to consume their favourite alcoholic beverages but on the flipside it reset their pallets allowing them to explore more than what their were used to. Just like everyone out there – the team at Dannywired also got introduced to the brand Whitley Neil. Whitley Neill is made from a 100% grain spirit that is steeped with botanicals prior to being distilled in a beautiful antique copper pot still called ‘Constance’ who is over 100 years old.
Only the purest water is used and each of the nine botanicals are carefully selected to ensure that they are of the highest quality. Whitley Neill’s tagline of “Crafted from the tree of life” goes a long way in describing what those botanicals might be. Bringing together a mix of innovative botanicals like cape gooseberries and baobab fruit to its lineup, it also has other more traditional botanicals such as juniper, coriander, lemon & orange peel, angelica root, cassia bark and orris root.
The team at Dannywired got introduced to the Protea and Hibiscus gin and upon open the bottle the startling sense of smell caused our mouths to salivate and all we could smell was South Africa. The Protea and Hibiscus flavours combined together bring a distinctive floral note which creates a smooth gin with a unique and remarkable taste that reflects the majestic beauty of the two flowers.
This particular bottle is sneaky as it isn’t harsh on the pallet like traditional gins, you may be heavy handed thinking that it is not strong enough but be cautioned – while your taste buds are dancing in excitement due this smooth blend, a heavy hand will get you drunk in a flash.
Whitley Neill gins are available at most liquor store though take note – it is not sold to persons under the age of 18.
Try this recipe out
50mls Whitley Neil Protea & Hibiscus
5mls Elderflower syrup
20mls lemon juice
20mls cranberry juice
Topped off with soda water/tonic/lemonade’
Garnish with a thyme sprig and an edible flower
