Winston Quinn

Ever feel that you wanted a drink that is ‘tailor made’ to fit? Then Winston Quinn fits the bill.

Fortitude Valley is home to this urban distillery with two common themes running through its design: dogs and jeans. Their connection? Owner and distiller, Megan Donsky.

You can’t enter Winston Quinn without greeting a wall mural or one of Megan’s dogs in person, hence the distillery being named after Megan’s golden retrievers, Winston and Quinn. Quirky? Yes, but it’s also cute. The jeans theme? More on that later…

A qualified accountant, Megan followed her passion, taking distilling from a hobby to a business, with smart targeted marketing being a hallmark of her sassy urban boutique distillery. Her gin is distinctively feminine and stunningly presented, gathering critical acclaim in its first year of production.

Megan uses grain ethanol from Manildra, a vast range of botanicals and fresh produce to produce four naturally coloured and uniquely balanced gins as well as limited releases. Each one of the distinctive gins is named after jeans and beautifully presented in a custom-made cut glass bottle with a distinctive jean pocket label.

Skinny Jeans was Megan’s first gin, rich in juniper flavour and a distinctive blue in colour, it’s infused with edible flowers. She tells us how she made her first batch at Granddad Jack’s Distillery on the Gold Coast, before moving onto small batch distilling in her own premises.

Six months later, Megan made Dry Cut, what she describes as her ‘most versatile’ gin. “It’s a London Dry style gin with a balanced punch of fresh citrus added as a nod to the Australian climate”, says Megan.

The very ‘Instagrammable’ Pink Fit is a dry gin that Megan made in honour of the Strawberry Sundae at the Ekka. 43kg of strawberries are used in making each batch of Pink Gin along with elderflower, grapefruit and wild apple.

The very distinctive Slim Crop is Megan’s fourth gin. Crisp, dry and tasting of cucumber, we can imagine it being served as a refreshing accompaniment to cucumber sandwiches at a croquet party on the lawn. Use slices of cucumber to decorate the glass.

At 57%, Double Denim is a Navy strength gin that packs a punch. This small batch gin was handmade in a copper still in the front of the distillery, using fresh Queensland oranges and seven other botanicals. It’s perfect for making a sneaky negroni.

So which gin is your ‘perfect fit’? There’s only one way to find out and that is to try them all.