Alnwick Garden and Durham Distillers team up to launch 'intoxicating' new gin using fruit from Poison Garden

The first Poison Garden Gin, distilled using fruits from the Medlar tree at the Alnwick attraction, has been launched.

The fruits, harvested in December, historically made them one of the very few sources of sugar that would have been available in medieval winters, and they only become edible when they are ‘rotten’, or overly ripe.

When the Medlar fruit is first picked, they are greenish-brown and resemble small brown rosehip when ripe.

Victoria Watson, strategic head of catering, retail and hospitality, said: “The Medlar fruit has a complex flavour, combining a tart apple-like freshness with an undertone of butter and hints of cinnamon and vanilla. This unique mix of flavours makes it an ideal ingredient for craft spirits such as gin, breathing fresh life into an ancient fruit that has been fading into obscurity.

“The Alnwick Garden is a testament to plant history and its continuous mission of inspiring and educating about plants' power to afflict, heal, and nurture. It is exciting to not only demonstrate how something as toxic as a ‘poisonous plant’ has had an impactful role to play in shaping human history – be it in warfare, medicine, but even with the humble gin and tonic.”

Produced by Durham Distillers, the gin is available to buy now at The Alnwick Garden gift shop and to order when dining at The Treehouse.

The first question likely to be asked is if the gin is safe to drink. The answer is undoubtedly yes - the Medlar fruits used do not possess any harmful properties.

Ms Watson stressed that the tag 'poison' in Poison Garden Gin is more reflective of the garden's deadly legacy rather than the gin itself.

Head distiller at Durham Distilleries, Ioanna Chatzi said: “The stage of over-ripeness allows for the complex amalgamation of acids, tannins, and sugars within the fruit to produce that unique flavour that gin-lovers will savour. The fruit is then mashed into a pulp, and the essence is distilled in ‘Lily’ – our 400-litre copper pot.

“This was an exciting project to be involved in and one-of-a-kind so we are delighted to have been able to collaborate with The Alnwick Garden to produce something so unusual.”