FIRST JOURNEYS - 80 GINS AROUND THE WORLD - PIN 64 OF 80
WHITLEY NEILL GIN, Fife, UK
(Inspired by ingredients from South Africa)
AROUND THE WORLD, ONE BOTTLE AT A TIME,
PHILEAS FOGG WOULD SURELY APPROVE
A gin inspired by South Africa, but really this is a story about one of Africa's most extraordinary trees.
I'm sure this award-winning gin needs little introduction. Whitley Neill Original was created by Johnny Neill and launched in 2005 as his signature English gin, inspired by his wife's South African heritage.
The recipe includes two African botanicals — baobab fruit and Cape gooseberries — with the baobab sourced through a cooperative in southern Africa.
Johnny comes from a family with a long distilling history dating back to 1762, and Whitley Neill was created as a tribute to that heritage as well as to his wife, whose family is from Durban.
The business has changed hands since I first wrote about it. Johnny Neill sold his remaining interest in Whitley Neill when Diageo acquired the brand from Halewood in 2020, so although the gin remains his creation, he is no longer an owner of the brand.
Look closely at the bottle and you'll see that the WN logo is actually a baobab tree, which gives you a clue about the importance of this ingredient to the original recipe.
The baobab is one of those trees that seems almost too extraordinary to be real. Sometimes called the monkey-bread tree or upside-down tree, it has become an icon of the African landscape and is remarkably well adapted to survive in hot, dry conditions.
Its enormous trunk can store water, allowing the tree to survive long dry periods. Some baobabs are believed to be more than 1,000 years old, although dating the very oldest specimens is difficult because of their unusual, often multi-stemmed and hollow trunks.
The fruit is almost as fascinating as the tree.
Baobab produces large white flowers which open around dusk and last for only a few hours. Fruit bats are important pollinators for several baobab species, although other animals and insects can also play a part.
The fruit develops a hard outer shell and the pulp dries naturally inside it while still on the tree. Once opened, the dried pulp can be sieved into a powder with a naturally sweet, citrusy flavour. It is also rich in vitamin C and contains fibre and minerals.
Baobab has been used as food and for traditional purposes in Africa for centuries, but it is relatively new to Western food markets. The European Union approved baobab fruit pulp as a novel food ingredient in 2008, with approval following in the United States in 2009.
The fruit is also an important source of income for rural communities, who harvest it from wild trees. So while we might see baobab as an exotic ingredient, it is a much more everyday part of life in the communities where it grows.
One of the most famous places to see these extraordinary trees is Madagascar's Avenue of the Baobabs, where enormous trees line the road and have become one of the country's best-known landscapes.
It is easy to see why the baobab has become a symbol of life and resilience. It survives in difficult conditions, provides food and income and has been part of African landscapes and cultures for generations.
The gin is almost the footnote to that story, but the combination of baobab and Cape gooseberry gives Whitley Neill its deliberate connection to South Africa.
"The Tree of Life."
HERBAL SOUR
50ml Whitley Neill Gin
15ml Green Chartreuse
25ml Lemon Juice
10ml Sugar Syrup
Egg white or foamer
"Show me a bottle
and I'll tell you a story."
