Norfolk gin makers create new tipple for the Queen

The Sandringham Gin. Pic: Sandringham (Image: Archant)

A couple who run a distillery in west Norfolk, formerly on the Sandringham estate, have just launched a new gin for the Queen.

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Called the Sandringham Gin, and priced £50 for 50cl, it’s made from local ingredients sourced from the Queen’s Norfolk 20,000 acre estate such as sharon fruit and myrtle foliage.

Jason and Nicky Crown, who run the gin firm WhataHoot, started the firm three years ago based in a barn on the Sandringham estate and later expanded to King’s Lynn. They describe the limited edition tipple as a “full bodied gin with rich juniper tones and a lingering citrus finish.”

The Sandringham Gin, Pic: Sandringham (Image: Archant)

It’s made from sharon fruit, grown in the walled garden on a sheltered wall at the end of what was a range of glass houses, built on the winnings of the famous racehorse, Persimmon, owned by King Edward VII.

The foliage from myrtle plants also grown on the estate, originated from a cutting taken from Princess Alexandra’s wedding bouquet on her marriage to Prince Albert Edward, who later became King Edward VII. It also includes a tree related to ebony, also known as the Chinese Persimmon.

The Queen is said to enjoy a pre dinner gin mixed with Dubonnet.

It’s not the first gin to be made for the Royal Family though. Buckingham Palace gin launched in July, made from botanicals handpicked from the palace. Then Prince Charles created gin inspired by his Gloucestershire home, The Highgrove. Neither of these are connected with WhataHoot.

The Sandringham Gin is for sale through the Sandringham estate shop.

Back in October, the Crowns launched a completely new tipple, a vodka called Signature V, a full-strength, hand-distilled premium vodka, made from sugar beet and triple-filtered, so smoother and ideal for drinking chilled on the rocks as well as with a mixer.