Whitley Neill Quince Gin 70cl

Product Information

Nose: Amongst a fruit-tastic salvo of citrus zest, apricot yoghurt and ripe nectarines there’s earthy juniper, a hint of leather and a touch of exotic spice. The bottling technique: Add your spirit to a Kilner jar or another sealable container. Make sure your kit is clean and sterile to avoid the spirit going bad. Then add your infusing ingredient and leave it to leach into the spirit. Here's a rough time guide:Leave strong chilli, vanilla, cardamom or citrus for less than a day.Hardy spices and strong-flavoured veg will need five to seven days.Berries and strong fruit can take around three to four weeks to impart as much flavour as possible.Milder ingredients like apple or florals will take up to a month. Seal your bottle and decorate it with a nice label if you’re giving it as a gift. I’ve called this gin “Two Quinces” after the 1992 Spin Doctors song, you’re welcome.

How to store: If your bottles or jars are well sealed, strained correctly and kept in a cool, dark place, your spirits can keep for up to a year. Palate: A very sweet, quite syrupy texture reveals notes of juicy citrus, warming ginger, hints of juniper and unmistakable quince. There’s plenty of fleshy pear and peach in there too. On entry, the palate has a fair viscosity. Early, it has a syrupy sweetness for me that reminds me of the juice from canned pears (in heavy syrup). Tart citrus rounds things out. Mid-palate there’s slight hints of green juniper and a touch of baking spice. The finish is long and sweet, with rich notes of pear syrup and candy. It’s not cloying, but Whitley Neill Quince Gin is sweet. A small jump from pears with roquefort: quince and panettone pudding. Photograph: Jonathan Lovekin/Observer

A fruity gin that combines the quinces natural balance of tart and sweet flavouring, reminiscent of pear & sour apple, with the smooth traditional base of our London Dry Gin. The overall effect is a bright and zesty gin with hints of juniper, coriander and aromatic floral notes. Put the sugar into a saucepan, add 750ml of water and bring to the boil. Peel the quinces then cut them in half from tip to base. Lower the quince halves into the syrup, add the lemon, cut in half then add to the pan. Turn the heat down so the quinces simmer gently. Partially cover with a lid and leave to cook, testing occasionally for tenderness with the point of a skewer. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs. Put the jar to one side, making sure you shake the jar every few days. Leave the quince to sit in the gin for 3-6 weeks. The first thing I did was measure how much gin my decorative bottle would take. My bottle would hold 350mls of gin, so allowing for a little bit of wastage during the straining process, and me having a little taste, I measured out 380mls of gin and poured it into a large sterilised jar.

To sterilise your jars and bottles, put your clean jars in a low oven for at least half an hour. Carefully remove your jars from the oven (they will be incredibly hot) and allow them to cool down a little. The quince hails from modern day Iran/Turkey and is said to have a flavor that contains notes of lemon, jasmine flowers, orange blossoms, pineapples, D’anjou pears and even apple (depending on who you ask). In other words, the fact that the fruits flavor defies simple description explains it best— quince is really its own thing. If you’ve had it, you know it. If you haven’t, it’s tough to make a point of reference.

We only deliver to UK mainland. Unfortunately, deliveries to Northern Ireland or outside the UK are unavailable at this stage.

Thank you. That makes sense as Quince is especially high in pectin and by cooking it, the pectin has been released. Quince Gin, or any fruit flavoured gin is really easy to do, you just need a big jar, some fruit, a bit of sugar, gin and some time.Herbs & plants: rosemary, thyme, lavender, mint, elderflowerRemember, the more you use the stronger the flavour. Use around 200-400g of fruit per litre of spirit. Chop up your two clean quinces as small as you can be bothered to do. I removed the small core and the pips. Once they’re all chopped up, add them to your large jar and top up with 30g of sugar. Put the lid on your jar and give it a good shake.

Deliciously fresh, sweet and tart at the same time - it sits wonderfully in a G&T, in a lemonade or in a glass of Prosecco. This one should be on your Christmas list - paired with an opulent cheeseboard and red grapes.

There is a temptation to leave them in a bowl on the kitchen table, their soft roses ’n’ honey scent getting more pronounced as the room warms. But no – every quince needs cooking, where its impenetrable flesh will soften almost to jelly and turn the colour of a winter sunset. This is, after all, probably one of the few fruits you truly cannot eat raw. When the time is up, take your sterilised bottle and using a funnel with some muslin or a coffee filter in it; strain the gin into the bottle. I found that it was best if I strained it twice. Just make sure you replacing the muslin with a new piece after the first straining. The aroma of Whitley Neill Quince Gin is quite lovely. Lots of quince— its has some hints of Honeycrisp apple, round soft notes of canned Bartlett pear and a spiced juniper note. In other words, it’s immediately recognizable as quince and gin. When you're happy with the flavour, sieve to remove any solids, then pass through a very fine piece of muslin or a coffee filter to get rid of any sediment.