Marylebone Gin, 70 cl

Product Information

Nose: Sugary porridge, creamy vanilla fudge and muddled fresh mint with ripe banana, papaya and a pinch of ginger in support.

Pour all the ingredients into a glass shaker filled with ice. Pour into a glass and garnish with grapefruit zest. Master of Malt: It seems like you’ve got distilling in your blood. Were you always destined to enter the spirits industry? Johnny Neill, founder of the Marylebone Gin brand and the man behind Whitley Neill Gin, said: Ginhas always been well enjoyed at the RAF Club, so it seemed only right that we should recognise this celebratory year with a commemorative spirit.

Marylebone London Dry Details

He says, “We’ve tried to develop something balanced and delicate, where the botanicals work in harmony, but also a spirit with a certain robustness.” From oregano-infused gin and kaffir lime leaf-infused vodka to classic wines and non-alcoholic beverages, you won’t go wrong here. As an adult, he moved there himself; he had a mews house just off Montagu Square for nearly a decade, absorbing the atmosphere in the last scrap of central London that still feels like a friendly little village. When it came time to make his own name in the gin world, he looked to his adopted home for inspiration.

He says, “The pleasure gardens gave me the inspiration to explore botanicals that are a little more floral in their outlook – chamomile, lemon balm and lime flower, with a hint of grapefruit to deliver a lovely, fresh, citrus-y zing.”As the founder of Whitley Neill Gin, Marylebone Gin, Berkshire Botanical Gin and Gelston Irish whiskey, it’s fair to say that Johnny Neill knows a thing or two about booze. We managed to grab five minutes with him and here’s what he said: In this Georgian era, gin was very much the drink of choice for Londoners – albeit, the spirit was a bit rougher than what we drink today,” he says. “So making a gin really seemed like the natural thing for me to do.”