Queen Elizabeth II's limited-edition rose petal gin has been released

• Queen Elizabeth II has launched a new flavor of gin, made with flowers from the garden of one of her residencies.
• Her Majesty's Northern Ireland residence is selling the rose petal gin.
• This royal news comes as the heartbreaking reason the Queen and Prince Philip don't live together is revealed.
  

Queen Elizabeth II's Northern Ireland residency is selling a new rose petal flavor gin - using flowers from the garden of her home.

The limited-edition alcoholic beverage is perfectly timed - after dry January and also in plenty of time for Valentine's Day for couples looking for that perfect gin without the gin making kit.

After all, drinking gin is good for you - in moderation of course.

Hilsborough Castle and Gardens, located just outside Belfast has teamed up with local distillery Rademon Estate to create a version of their award-winning Shortcross Gin called Hillsborough Castle and Gardens Shortcross.

The new gin launch comes after Buckingham Palace released a gin made with botanicals from the palace garden last July and the queen launched her own Sandringham gin in November.

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Hillsborough Castle Edition Shortcross Gin: $54.57 / £40 at Historical Royal Palaces.com

This limited edition botanical gin features rose petals handpicked from the Queen's Granville Rose Garden at Hillsborough Castle. Blended with apples and pears foraged from the 18th century Walled Garden, the final recipe is reminiscent of summer rose gardens with a long, sweet citrus and smooth oily finish.

• Limited edition of only 400 bottles
• Made in Northern Ireland
• 70cl bottle
• 43% alcohol by volume

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Historic Royal Palaces, the charity which looks after the castle, has confirmed the spirit will be made using "hand-picked" rose petals from the castle’s Granville Rose Garden. 

The garden has a personal connection to the Queen as it was named after its creator, Lady Rose Bowes-Lyon, an elder sister of the Queen Mother and the Queen’s aunt. Lady Rose was the wife of the 4th Earl Granville, who was Governor of Northern Ireland from 1945 to 1952.

In describing the new gin, Historic Royal Palaces said, '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.'

Meanwhile, Laura McCorry, Head of Hillsborough Castle added, '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. 

'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!'

The castle was sold to the British Government in 1925 and is now the official home of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland as well as a royal residence used when members of the royal family visit Northern Ireland. 

It has 100 acres of gardens and pre-covid pandemic, it was open to the public for most of the year.