THE EASY OPTION
Decadently smooth, effortlessly drinkable, Highclere Castle Gin uses choice botanicals from the estate to create a premium spirit that can be sipped on its own or used in classic cocktails
Long before it found international fame as the instantly recognisable setting of Downton Abbey, Highclere Castle was already an iconic building. While the castle was rebuilt to Sir Charles Barry’s Jacobethan design from 1839, there’s something about its magnificent splendour that puts one in mind of the roaring twenties and the decadent celebrations and hospitable house parties of the Edwardian era.
It’s fitting, then, that Highclere Castle now produces its own award-winning, premium London dry gin, which is so exceptionally smooth it can be enjoyed on its own on the rocks or mixed in a classic cocktail. Menus and letters found in the Carnarvon family archives reference gin cocktails from the 1900s, and for more than a century the family and their guests have enjoyed gin and tonics ‘Highclere Style’: with a squeeze of fresh orange and a twist of peel, finished with a rosemary sprig from the garden.
The gin was inspired by and is produced using botanicals from the castle garden, combined in a meticulously developed recipe. Traditional juniper is the main ingredient, to which a touch of lavender has been added, inspired by the borders in the castle’s Monks’ Garden, which were planted in the 9th century by the Bishop of Winchester. Then comes lime flower, orange peel and – an unexpected addition – oats grown on the chalk downland of the wider Highclere estate, which give the gin its memorably smooth and creamy finish.
The gin is produced at Langley Distillery, home to some of England’s oldest working copper gin stills, some of which date back to the 1800s. Here, the unique blend of botanicals is added to the still along with a charge of spirits made from English wheat, to slowly release their essential oils and give Highclere Castle Gin its smooth flavour and subtle aroma.