If you’ve ever seen Downton Abbey, you’ve seen the historic house that contains hundreds of rooms but no central heating or shower. In real life it is the Highclere Castle and the home of Lord and Lady Carnarvon. Both the house and the name that grace the label of that name is now also that of a brand of gin in a distinctive purple bottle. It is being promoted now with a Friday evening (9 p.m. GMT) virtual cocktail party on the brand’s Facebook page.
Under normal circumstances, Highclere Castle is open to real life tours and events. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic does not allow for such in-person experiences right now. So the Carnarvons had to adapt their approach to virtual experiences, and they certainly do draw a crowd to the live events.
The Friday night cocktail party on Facebook drew over 22K views and 2.8K reactions, as well as many comments typed in during the event. People seem attracted to the immediacy of having the hosts speaking to them in real time, as these numbers far outstrip the number of views clocked on their YouTube videos.
For example, Highclere Castle Gin, Episode 1: The Countess of Carnarvon, which aired on April 9th, has under 1K views to date. Highclere Castle Gin, Episode 2: Cocktails with The Butler, which aired the following week has under 300 views, despite the jazz music and the butler’s tutorial on mixing the perfect cocktails. Even I can mix up his “noble” cocktail, as it is straight Gin over ice.
“Cocktails say so much about style of life,” Lady Carnavon observes in the course of the virtual cocktail party just before she introduces the “White Lady.” (You can see what it looks like and the recipe as per Difford’s Guide).
All reports indicate that people are consuming quite a bit of alcohol at home under lockdown, and that holds true for the UK, as well as for the US. Of course, it is something to watch for to avoid addiction and other health problems associated with high alcohol consumption.
For those who are not just mindlessly hitting the bottle but taking the time to craft celebratory cocktails, it can be a form of creative outlet like baking and cooking. Highlclere Castle Gin invites people to tap into that kind of experience with the backdrop of what may now be one of the most famous castles in the world.