A NEW Castle Howard Gin has been created using herbs and fruit foraged from its historic 8,000-acre estate.

The North Yorkshire stately home has teamed up with Sloemotion Distillery to launch the classic juniper-led dry spirit which has extracts of coriander, cardamom, orange peel and St. John’s Wort.

Floral notes from meadowsweet and crab apple, both from the estate, have been added along with citrus tones from Lemon Balm, from the formal gardens.

The partnership has been developed out of shared interests between Castle Howard’s estate conservation programme and the ethos o fthe Barton-le-Willows-based distillery, which adds locally-foraged botanicals such as sloes and hedgerow fruits, to their classic London gin ingredients.

“The ethos and values that inspired Sloemotion struck a chord with us here at Castle Howard,” said Nicholas Howard.

“Joff Curtoys, founder of Sloemotion Distillery sits on our Conservation Advisory Board, and their work using botanicals sourced from their local surroundings at Green Farm resonated with our wish to develop high quality, sustainable products from the estate here."

Joff said: “Sloemotion Distillery are delighted to be teaming up with Castle Howard. We have been proud to supply the Castle Howard Farm Shop for a number of years and have enjoyed a close working relationship; this partnership is providing a wonderful opportunity to work closely with this prestigious estate with an exciting new gin."

Castle Howard Gin is available in 70cl bottles from its Farm Shop or website for £39.99.