Fang-tastic new gin inspired by tale of Alnwick Castle vampire

Northumberland Spirit Company, the home of Alnwick Gin, recently launched Castle Vampyre gin and it will be available in the castle shop when it opens at the end of March.

Earlier this week, managing director Neil Osborne presented a bottle to the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland along with their four-legged friends Hector and Pip.

Northumberland Spirit, based at Blacksmiths Distillery in Rock, produces gins which are hand crafted and prides itself on only using the finest ingredients to create a gin of the highest quality for the discerning pallet.

The main botanicals in Castle Vampyre are blood orange, milk thistle, dandelion and nettle which were historically used as ancient blood cleanses.

It’s the third gin as part of their Northern Fables range and was inspired by the legend of an Alnwick Castle vampire.

Legend has it that a man who served the lord of Alnwick Castle suspected his wife of having an affair. Aiming to catch her in the act, he climbed onto the roof of their dwelling and fell to his death after breaking his neck.

Despite being buried, the man was spotted around the town. When illnesses spread and livestock began dying, the locals naturally suspected the man. They dug up his corpse to find it engorged with blood. Once the body was disposed of, the appearances and illnesses mysteriously stopped.

To this day, the man is known as the Alnwick Vampire. The name derived from medieval chronicler William of Newburgh, who used the term ‘bloodsucker’ to describe the man in his account of the tale – is the first recorded use of the word in England.

Neil said: “It was an absolute pleasure to meet the Duke and Duchess who were very intrigued that we had produced a local gin which told a story.”

Every gin in the Northern Fables range tells a story and features its own unique QR Code which when scanned with a smart phone will take you on a journey to the story behind the gin.

Other gins in the range include: Laidly Wyrm (Dragon of Bamburgh Castle) and Queen of Elphame (Queen of Fairyland in the Scottish Borders).

Castle Vampyre is also available in several outlets and online.