Last summer, Buckingham Palace launched a Gin made with botanicals from its own garden. Now Queen Elizabeth II’s official Northern Ireland residence has teamed up with Rademon Estate to release Hillsborough Castle and Gardens Shortcross Gin.
Queen Elizabeth II’s Hillsborough Castle and Gardens Shortcross Gin is made using “hand-picked” rose petals from the castle’s Granville Rose Garden. The garden was named after its creator, Lady Rose Bowes-Lyon, an elder sister of the Queen Mother and the Queen’s aunt. “This elegant garden features a delicate combination of climbing, rambling and hybrid tea roses, the fragrance of which is a signature of the gin’s resulting blend,” said Historic Royal Palaces said in a statement announcing the new drink.
Shortcross is an award winning Gin from local distillery Rademon Estate Distillery. Just 400 bottles of the spirit will be made, with the rose petals blended with apples and pears from the castle’s newly-restored Walled Garden.
“We’re delighted to have been able to work with the experts at Rademon Estate to make our dream of bottling something of Hillsborough Castle’s essence a reality,” said Laura McCorry, Head of Hillsborough Castle. “Like the Castle itself, gin is something of a Georgian success story, so it seems particularly fitting that both seem to be enjoying a renaissance in the twenty-first century!”
In November, Qeen Elizabeth II released Sandringham Celebration Gin, made with botanicals grown on her private estate. It features Sharon fruit, a woody tree related to ebony, also known as the Chinese Persimmon, and foliage from myrtle plants. The offering was the third Gin released by the Royal family in 2020.
In October, Prince Charles unveiled Highgrove Gin. Made from grain grown in the garden of the Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall’s royal residence, Highgrove House, the Gin features juniper, citrus, lemon verbena, thyme and rosemary notes. The spirit is distilled by an artisan producer in Oxford.