Beefeater revives traditional Crown Jewel recipe

Beefeater Crown Jewel is to be re-released globally to the on-trade as a limited edition exclusive following its discontinuation in 2009.

The names of the eight resident ravens at the Tower of London are imprinted on the side of every bottle

The new Beefeater Crown Jewel release uses the original recipe that launched the product in 1993, incorporating Beefeater’s nine classic botanicals with the addition of grapefruit to impart “crisp notes of citrus”.

The expression is said to celebrate the legend that ravens must remain in the Tower of London to prevent the Tower, and the monarchy, from falling, so in homage, the names of the eight resident ravens are imprinted on the side of every bottle as part of the new design.

Other contemporary revisions of the original Beefeater Crown Jewel bottle include greater prominence of the Beefeater logo, a limited edition bottle number and the batch number.

J.C. Iglesias, global brand director for Beefeater, said: “Launched before the super premium gin boom, Beefeater Crown Jewel was ahead of its time. An expression so popular that it deserves a one-off revival.

“We are excited to offer Beefeater Crown Jewel exclusively to the on-trade globally, inspiring the greatest creatives within mixology to celebrate the peerless qualities of this gin.

“We expect the limited edition relaunch to inspire bartenders around the world, encouraging existing fans and those that are yet to experience Beefeater Crown Jewel, to develop iconic cocktails with it.”

Beefeater Crown Jewel has a “delicate citrus aroma delivering hints of grapefruit”, “velvety smooth in the mouth” with “complex botanical flavours”, and is bottled at 50% abv.

Beefeater’s master distiller, Desmond Payne, added: “Beefeater Crown Jewel is hugely popular within circles of gin connoisseurs for good reason: the velvety smooth gin shows superior, refined spirit notes with a delicate citrus aroma and – most significantly – a higher abv of 50% that helps flavours hold together.

“These attributes won Beefeater Crown Jewel legions of fans before its discontinuation and we hope to once again inspire gin enthusiasts with the limited edition relaunch.”

The 1L limited edition bottle will be available exclusively to the on-trade except for a very limited number of bottles being sold at Beefeater: The Home of Gin Visitor Centre at an RRP of €55.