THE GIN PASSPORT ATLAS - DISTILLERY STORY- PINNED ON THE MAP - UK/ EUROPE
HIGHGROVE GIN, Gloucestershire, UK
King Charles III probably isn't the first name that springs to mind when you think of celebrity gin. Yet Highgrove has its own gin...
Highgrove, the King’s Gloucestershire home and gardens, has its own Highgrove Organic Garden Botanical Gin, made using heritage grains grown at Highgrove and botanicals inspired by the gardens themselves, including lemon verbena, thyme and rosemary. It is an organic London Dry Gin at 40% ABV, sold through Highgrove, with proceeds supporting The King’s Foundation.
This isn't quite the same thing as King Charles deciding he fancied owning a gin company. Highgrove is the brand and the gin is sold through the estate, making it more of a royal estate and charitable product than a celebrity spirits company in the Ryan Reynolds or Emma Watson mould.
The interesting bit is that the story genuinely starts at Highgrove. The gardens have been developed over decades, with Charles taking a very hands-on interest in how they were created and managed. So when the idea of a gin came along, rather than simply sticking a royal name on a bottle, the liquid could actually be tied to the place.
The gin was originally made by The Oxford Artisan Distillery, better known as TOAD. When it was launched in 2020, TOAD’s master distiller Cory Mason worked with Prince Charles on the gin, using heritage grain from Highgrove and botanicals from the gardens. TOAD’s grain-to-glass approach made it a particularly good fit for the project, rather than simply being a convenient name on the production paperwork.
There is a small wrinkle in that story now. TOAD subsequently became Fielden and ceased production in Oxford. Highgrove’s current information simply describes the gin as being distilled by an artisan producer in Oxford. The current producer isn't named, so that is as far as the trail can safely be followed.
What hasn't changed is the Highgrove connection. Heritage grain grown at the estate, garden botanicals, the King’s name and a bottle sold through one of Britain's most recognisable royal gardens give this gin something that most celebrity bottles would probably pay a marketing agency a considerable amount of money to invent.
There is also a more useful distinction here. The proceeds aren't simply going into a royal drinks business; Highgrove says they support The King’s Foundation, which has been custodian of the Highgrove gardens since 2021.
So while King Charles hasn't exactly joined the celebrity gin arms race, Highgrove has managed something rather clever. The bottle has the celebrity, the gardens provide the story, the ingredients provide the provenance and the money has a charitable destination.
Even royalty, it seems, recognises that a good bottle needs more than good liquid
"A royal garden, a grain-to-glass gin and a rather unlikely drinks venture."
Show me a bottle and
I'll tell you a story.
