Our recent holiday to Yorkshire and Northumberland glittered with visits to notable film sets. Much to our surprise, we continued the trend when we got home.
Inspired by Harewood and Alnwick, we’d started streaming Downton Abbey ... filmed at both ... from our hotel room on holiday evenings. Highclere, “the real Downton Abbey”, is local to us. While familiarity certainly has not bred contempt, we haven’t given the place the hallowed ground status our American visitors accord it. For us, it’s most notable for its annual Battle Proms, sadly cancelled this year. (I’ve mentioned the event several times in this blog; here’s the best overview.) But with Downton and film set tourism on my brain, I thought I’d check out Highclere’s website to see what else we could appreciate at this local gem.
Which is how we ended up quaffing cocktails with the earl and countess of Carnarvon on their lawns on Friday night. Compared to the thousands thronging the grounds for their Battle Proms, there were only about 20 of us at the event, and we’d swept up the drive to park immediately in front of the house rather than queuing to occupy the pastures. Yet another surprisingly delightful opportunity thrown up by the oddities of COVID-19.
Highclere Gin sparked this one. By now we’re all familiar with the sad stories of people who’ve launched products or businesses in the past year to have their whole plan ... and sometimes life savings ... endangered by the global pandemic. Here’s another. More than a year of development preceded last year’s Highclere Gin launch and 2020 should have been filled with marketing events; particularly in America and to its visiting citizens. The idea came from an American gin producer who the Carnarvons then worked in partnership with, and they’ve prioritised US distribution channels.
Not only are the Americans still obsessed with Downton Abbey but, as the earl pointed out on Friday, their gin market is far less saturated. A visit to our local (Basingstoke) Majestic validates his point, with three shelves of gins from Hampshire and Surrey on offer. It’s a tough market to attempt to penetrate with something new, especially when the pandemic eliminated the promotional possibility of live events, bars and restaurants.
The Carnarvons responded with Facebook live broadcasts on Friday nights during lockdown (photo above), inviting viewers into rooms so familiar from Downton to share virtual cocktails. Our event evolved social media into the real world, offering guests the chance to try the gin and chat with the earl and countess face to face. (With proper social distancing, of course.)
The videos that inspired the parties ... especially the early ones ... are charmingly authentic. No slick marketing production, no obvious edits, just two very authentic people and the occasional dog talking about what they’re drinking and sharing cocktail-related stories. As a cocktail lover, I’m entertained by their videos and have found the recipes on their Facebook page a real treasure trove. As a marketer, I’m impressed and more than a bit amused that an earl and countess in a venerable stately home ... people you’d think would be the last to grasp the power of peer-to-peer marketing and social media .... are embracing it in a way that many corporate execs in cutting edge companies with abundant marketing resources at their command are not. Most business pundits agree that it’s the people who flexed their business models quickly and tried new things during the COVID-19 crisis who will come out ahead; the team at Highclere certainly deserves to.
At £75 per ticket and a cash bar after the first drink this wasn’t a cheap night out. But I still haven’t normalised not needing to commute, so the £150 weekly “bonus” I’m getting from not paying Southwestern Railway logically transfers to treats like this.
Entry included the first cocktail from a varied menu heavy on classics from the ‘20s and ‘30s, a light dinner and a copy of the countess’ At Home at Highclere book which is a combination of recipes, lavish photos and stories about the house. I was expecting perfunctory corporate event nibbles, so was particularly impressed by the food. Luscious, velvety onion and black truffle soup, cured salmon and one of the best scotch eggs I’ve tasted (avoiding the usual mistake of too much breading) made an excellent dinner. These were followed by a particularly elegant take on Eton mess and a chocolate pot with a butterscotch base and popping candy top that could trigger a diabetic coma, but might be worth the health crisis. As you might expect, the service was top notch and the team made you feel like a proper house party guest rather than a paying punter.
Of course, what you’re really buying at events like this is exclusive access. For frequent visitors to big events here, there’s a real high to parking in front and walking around to the private bit of the house. Though the skies were a bit gloomy, it wasn’t raining and it’s hard to beat quaffing cocktails on emerald green lawns below remarkable architecture. Having the family’s 1930s Rolls Royce parked on the lawns added to the atmosphere. I suspect the earl and countess had hoped for more than 20 guests, but the small numbers gave each guest plenty of quality time with them.
What’s the gin like? Created to reflect the estate, the most notable aromatics are lavender ... a staple at Highclere going back to the Middle Ages ... and citrus inspired by what’s grown in the Victorian orangery. There are also, uniquely, oats, reflecting the current earl’s work as a producer of precision-milled oats for racing thoroughbreds. I couldn’t pick it up on the nose or the tongue, but the idea of it being in there is great fun.
At £37.50 it’s on the high end of the gin price range. Despite the Carnarvons excellent insight into the world of cocktails, it feels like a waste to hide such high-end stuff in the strong flavours of a negroni or an aviation. I’d stick to a simple martini or a gin and tonic, where you can better appreciate the balance of aromatics. I might pair it with a mild cured salmon on oat cakes to see if I can bring out those interesting grains.
And what’s it like to spend time with a real earl and countess? Not that much different than anyone else, to be honest, though I did feel my years of reading Country Life and listening to The Archers probably gave me a conversational advantage. Lord and Lady Carnarvon both have an easygoing charm, skill at talking to strangers and an ability to make people feel comfortable that they share with anyone who makes their living interacting with the general public. In fact, they reminded me much more of the rugby stars, ex-politicians and famous authors I’ve worked with putting on corporate events than any stereotype of staid, formal English aristocracy.
Personal exposure has only boosted my admiration for how the Carnarvons have parlayed their Downton Abbey association into a variety of business lines that will, hopefully, keep this historic estate thriving ... and employing locals ... for decades to come. I came away with new cocktail recipes and a characterful Christmas gift idea for friends, particularly Downton-crazed Americans. Not bad for a local Friday night out.
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