As we travel headfirst into the summer season, The Grand Hotel, Eastbourne, reveals its new bespoke The Grand Gin, writes Nick Mosley.
Created in collaboration with Hawkridge Distillers. The Grand Gin’s unique flavour profile comes from a delicate fusion of locally sourced botanicals including honey, wild gorse and samphire, handpicked from the coastline just a stone’s throw from the hotel.
The craft spirit is made using a Victorian method – rarely used today – capturing the very essence of The Grand Hotel, affectionately known as ‘The White Palace’. This process involves creating a botanical tea which gives the gin a smooth and full-bodied texture.
With a combination of distillation and branding expertise, the team at Hawkridge Distillers worked to bring to life the bespoke world class spirit. Nestled in the heart of the North Wessex Downs, the distillery has a proven track record of creating infusions that reflect the venues they work with, while providing an added layer of exclusivity.
The timeless and elegant bottle design represents The Grand Hotel at its core, with the original hotel crest stamped on the glass topper along with the hotel logo sitting on the bottle.
With environmental concerns and sustainable development front of mind, all the foraged botanicals for the spirit are sourced locally to the Grand Hotel to ensure the hotels’ carbon footprint is kept to a minimum.
The hotel’s elegant cocktail bar will be the place to enjoy the new gin, or with the warmer weather approaching, the Chatsworth Terrace - commanding unobstructed sea views and once frequented by the likes of Charlie Chaplin, classical composers Debussy and Elgar and, more recently, Dame Helen Mirren, will be the perfect place for a refreshing gin and tonic.
The hotel’s imaginative bartenders will be on hand to create wild and wonderful gin cocktails, whilst The Mirabelle Restaurant will have a selection of exciting gin infused dishes - ranging from ‘Grand Gin cured Sea Trout’ and ‘Grand Gin and Tonic Lemon Tart’.