Love, Share & Enjoy!
Before I had even opened my bottle I had become enamoured with the story of how St Maur, a delicious elderflower liqueur, had first been created. I had been told that the Earl and Countess of Yarmouth first produced St Maur to help guests celebrate their wedding day in 2018 to compliment some bubbles with a glass of something special, something unique which was quintessentially English. William is the eldest son of the Marquess of Hertford & grew up at Ragley Hall, Alcester which has been his family’s ancestral seat since the 18th century.
A little less formal, William & Kelsey Seymour wanted to produce a drink that would capture the happiness & joy of their special day with a liquid spirit they would all remember! Call me a romantic fool if you wish, I do make a habit of watching the sun go down, but I thought their story was indeed something special!
Their own love story became the inspiration behind their blooming Warwickshire business which was launched during the bleak early weeks of lockdown. This beautifully light peach pink liqueur is hand-crafted in central Warwickshire with elderflowers harvested by William & Kelsey & team in their own ancient family-owned woodlands.
William – the mixologist
St Maur is a contemporary liqueur created around the four components needed to make a cocktail, a base spirit, a sweet & sour element, unique flavour, and its appearance. This liqueur can be enjoyed with all kinds of cocktails, and long drinks, in a simple fizz with soda, tonic or ginger ale, ‘royale’ with champagne bubbles, on its own or on the rocks with a little ice.
I was expecting the taste to be very sweet, but I was pleasantly surprised. There is an elegant passionate fragrance & strong core of fresh elderberries creating a refreshing balance between the sugar & bitterness. It is a fine example of a modern English style floral liqueur with a mature sophistication attached to it.
St Maur can be sipped at and drunk on its own or can be used as a mixer to make delightful pre-dinner, lunch, brunch, or evening cocktails. I would suggest you free your imagination & be creative! St Maur is a versatile liqueur which allows mixologists & complete novices the scope to experiment & demonstrate their own creations as well as mixing up some familiar classic cocktails with a touch of St Maur!
Why not have a shot at the simply inspirational Hugo cocktail. St Maur elderflower liqueur with some freshly squeezed lime juice, a few mint leaves torn to release their flavour, plenty of ice, topped off with Prosecco. What is there not to like?
Provenance is key to all that St Maur do. If you were to follow the map co-ordinates on the bottles logo you would actually arrive at ancient elderflower groves in Ladies Wood, Ragley Woods, Alcester, now cared for by Earl of Yarmouth Estates. In late spring and early summer, this is where you will find William & Kelsey and other family members picking the wild elderflower blossoms themselves!
William picking the harvest of elderberries in Ladies Wood
St Maur is the surname used by the family in medieval times and William’s ancestors actually rode out with William the Conqueror! If you drag out the letters in St Maur slowly it is very easy to see how it sounds like the surname Seymour, the name used by the family in the early Middle Ages. This aristocratic family can trace its long lineage back to Jane Seymour, the third wife of Tudor King Henry VIII, who died of postnatal complications less than two weeks after the birth of their only child, the future King Edward VI. That is some lineage!
I also made a note of the brand’s mascot a red-legged partridge, a bird which had been successfully reintroduced into England in the 19th century by Francis Seymour, the 5th Marquess, an ancestor of Williams. From the recipe for the liqueur, to the designs on the label, and the name itself, St Maur brings together over 1,000 years of heritage and family history.
“We wanted a drink that would capture the spirit of our wedding day. Drawing on old family recipes handed down to us, we created St Maur, and we named it after our family heritage. We also gave it the colour of love,”
William.
At the time of going to press, the business continues to expand with expansion into new premises in Alcester so that the in increased demand production process can be managed on site. There has been an ever increasing demand for the liqueur as a growing number of retail outlets, hotels, restaurants & bars across the country discover this little drop of England’s heart!
St Maur has already won a string of international industry awards – including The Las Vegas Global Spirits Gold Award; Best English Floral in the World Liqueur Awards; Great Taste Award 2 Star rating; Gold Medal in The Swiss Spirits Review; International Spirits Challenge Silver Awards & the most recent, Best in Category for International Liqueurs at The American Distilling Institute International Spirits Competition, held in the United States 2023. I have no doubt there will be more to follow!
Tasting notes from the judges read: “St Maur has elegant fragrance, intense notes of elderflower, good balance of sweetness and good length on the palate, nice complexity.”
“It’s great to see our little drop from over here has done well over there! We love introducing our little drop of England’s heart to new consumers to share and enjoy wherever they are in the world. These latest international awards are just one way of doing that and flying the flag for our beautiful corner of England.”
William
Jay Blades, William Seymour & Sir David Jason at the Midland Air Festival at Ragley Hall
The couple have also been working with local charities which are close to their hearts such as Warwickshire-based Riding for The Disabled located in nearby Shrewley. William & Kelsey are also keen to give back to the environment as well as taking from it, including a commitment to pick no more than 30% of the wild elderflower blossom annually to ensure their sustainability.
My drinks cabinet is often full of unopened or half full bottles of drinks I have been given over the years for birthdays & Christmas. There is no chance that this beautifully designed bottle of St Maur will be relegated to the back of the drink’s cabinet! I absolutely love it & I am already planning my next adventurous line of cocktails! Why not check it out for yourself! Love, Share & Enjoy!
For more information visit: Spirit of St Maur, Alcester, Warwickshire
A little drop of England’s heart
@drinkstmaur
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