OUR STORY
HANDCRAFTED GINS, DISTILLED IN THE HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON
Whitley Neill Gin is a premium handcrafted artisanal gin range and an established English brand with heritage dating back to 1762. Whitley Neill Gin is distilled at the multi-award-winning City of London Distillery, the first, and still the only, gin distillery in The City of London in 200 years.
Johnny Neill is an eighth generation distiller, and direct descendant of Thomas Greenall and JJ Whitley. After initially forging a career in investment management, he went on to delve deeper into his family distilling heritage and started on a new career path, founding the popular Whitley Neill Gin brand in 2005. Using nine of the highest quality botanicals, Johnny launched Whitley Neill Gin, its Original London Dry Gin and a range of flavours inspired by both his and his ancestors travels around the world, cementing him as one of the pioneers of the early gin boom.
MEET JOHNNY NEILL,
8TH GENERATION FAMILY MEMBER
Johnny’s fascination with gin and its complex distillation process begun under his Grandmother’s expert guidance. He learnt how, by simply infusing the crisp sharpness of juniper berries with a variety of other flavours and aromas, the taste could change dramatically. And for Johnny, that was the attraction.
From that moment onwards, he was driven to create a blend of gins that captured his family’s passion and something altogether more exotic, enigmatic, and mysterious.
NINE DISTINCTIVE BOTANICALS
Johnny Neill’s first creation was The Whitley Neill London Dry Gin, a classic dry gin but not as you know it, softer and much smoother than traditional Gins, with rich juniper notes, citrus and exotic botanicals Baobab fruit and Cape gooseberry.
Johnny distilled the tart Baobab fruit pulp to release a distinctive citrus flavour, quite unlike any other. Followed by the Physalis Peruviana or Cape gooseberry as it’s known in South Africa. These flavoursome bitter-sweet berries added a whole new dimension to the aroma.
Johnny then took six other carefully selected botanicals to create Whitley Neill’s recipe, but that’s a whole different story…
OUR HOME IN THE HEART OF THE CITY OF LONDON
The goal of the City of London Distillery has always been to bring back and maintain the heritage and history of London’s gin production whilst incorporating new contemporary ideas.
The City of London Distillery has been producing award-winning gins for a decade, with 65 medals won across the range of Gins, including 5 Double Golds & 5 Golds at IWSC and 6 Golds at SFWSC and 3 Spirits Business Gin Masters.
Often referred to as a hidden treasure, the bar at the City of London Distillery, is a cocktail bar that overlooks the striking copper stills of the distillery. The faint aroma of gin vapour that hangs in the air all add to the bar’s unique atmosphere.
The City of London coat of arms on our products is used under special agreement with the City of London Corporation and is not to be used by third parties.