Most Haunted Gin in the UK… Let Loose for Halloween!
If ghosts and ghouls are your thing, Hooting Owl’s limited edition haunted gin is sure to get you in the spirit this Halloween.
The gin magicians at Hooting Owl have released a limited edition ‘haunted’ Blackcurrant & Liquorice Gin, which has been distilled in what is thought to be the most haunted distillery in the UK.
The Where Ghosts Walk (WGW) Batalicious Gin, has been distilled under the watchful eye of a benevolent flame-haired former landlord and stored in a locked room with the resident panicked paranormal presence.
Barmby Moor House, situated in a rural village on the York to Hull trunk road, has been the headquarters of the Hooting Owl Distillery and home to craft distiller, Dominic M’Benga, since it was founded in 2018. In its previous life, the building was a public house and historic coaching inn and the regular, ominous night time activity on site has been attributed to the centuries of colourful landlords and patrons that have passed through its doors.
The establishment attracted its fair share of trade during the 1800s, and it seems some guests are less than keen to leave! The outbuildings, where the current copper stills are housed, are reported to be particularly lively at night, with whispering voices and footsteps regularly heard across the old Yorkshire stone floors, and the distillery isn’t short on spooky sightings.
Said to be the ghost of a former landlord called Joseph, a red-haired apparition regularly emerges around the distillery. Old Joe, as he’s fondly referred to, often paces through the distillery as though making checks, paying particular interest to the distillery’s artisan gin making. He will flash a wry, cheeky smile at anyone who has the pleasure of making his acquaintance, before disappearing into thin air.
More chillingly, the spectre of the young Barmby Coachman can often be seen tramping back and forth and murmuring incoherently. The man is believed to have left his tired horses at the inn after changing them during a gruelling winter journey over ‘The Black Moor’ from York. Having lost his life in a duel of love before he
could return, he is said to frantically search one of the rooms at Barmby Moor House, having come back to claim his horses.
In what is now a storeroom, the Barmby Coachman occupies the most haunted part of the distillery, plagued by disruptive paranormal activity, the room is used to store the Blackcurrant & Liquorice Gin.
Dom says, “If there’s a more haunted distillery in the UK I haven’t heard of it! It can get exceptionally eerie at night in that room, so it seemed like the obvious place to store the Halloween gin, although the bottles do seem to have a habit of moving around!”
The gin recipe, inspired by the sweet flavours Dom remembers from his childhood Halloween Trick or Treating days, joins the Hooting Owl range for a limited time and only a small number of bottles have been distilled. Available in a black etched bottle, it’s recommended that the gin is simply served on its own with crushed ice or paired with coke for a touch of extra fizz.
“All Hooting Owl’s flavours are inspired by things that mean something to us, like the region, our story or the history of the house. If there was ever a haunted gin, this is it! Not only has the gin been distilled under the watchful eye of Old Joe, we also chose to store it in the most haunted part of the distillery, even though none of us like to have to go in there too often. Hence it being limited edition!”
At that time of the year when the veil between worlds is at its thinnest, are you brave enough to try the UK’s most haunted gin?
WGW Batalicious Blackcurrant & Liquorice Gin has a little extra spirit in every bottle and can be ordered online through the Hooting Owl website, while stocks (and Hooting Owl’s nerves) last!
