Whitley Neill Peach Gin

The peach arrives here as a flavour laid onto a finished dry ginDry ginGin with no perceptible sweetness: in the European Union, the word "dry" allows at most 0.1 g of sugar per litre.GlossarySee Dry gin gins, not as a fruit distilled alongside the botanicals, and South African peaches are the stated inspiration behind it. Whitley Neill built it that way at 43%, and the method is why the fruit stays this expressive.

Citrus · Fruity

Distilling a peach destroys most of what makes it a peach. The aromatics are delicate and the heat takes them, which is why almost every peach gin on a shelf uses a natural flavour instead, and being honest about that is more useful than pretending otherwise. What the approach buys is a fruit that smells ripe rather than cooked.

The base underneath is the house frame, unchanged and doing exactly what it should. Juniper holds the structure and stays audible without leading. Coriander seed brings the warm spice, angelica and orris, both as roots, supply the dry earth and the mouthfeel, and cassia barkCassiaThe bark of a Chinese cinnamon tree, coarser and hotter than Ceylon cinnamon. It brings a warm, slightly sweet spice.Glossary adds a restrained warmth beneath the fruit. Orange and lemon peel then work above, and the citrus is the important half: without it the peach would sit round and unbroken, and the zest is what gives it an edge to push against.

The nose opens expressive on ripe peach with soft citrus zest and a gentle juniper behind.

The palate is round and fruit-forward, juicy stone fruit framed by light spice and restrained brightness, with juniper present and never dominant. The close is smooth and gently warming, stone fruit sweetness lingering with a delicate citrus lift.

Neutral tonic, and a garnish of fresh peach or lemon zest depending on which half you want forward. Light fruit-driven cocktails suit it too. A house that has now put six different fruits on the same frame has to keep the frame worth returning to, and this is one of the versions where the base is still clearly audible under the fruit.