In celebration of its 10-year anniversary, Elephant Gin (www.elephant-gin.com) is releasing a very special limited-edition gin, the African Explorer (40% ABV, RRP £45).
When forming Elephant Gin, Tessa and Robin Gerlach were inspired by the Sundowner experience whilst exploring the wildlife of Africa; when creating their lauded London Dry Gin in 2013, they were keen to use botanicals from the continent that they’d fallen in love with, using an innovative blend of 14 botanicals including rare African ingredients.
Elephant Gin’s new limited-edition celebration gin further highlights African ingredients from across the continent, using freshly sourced aromatic buchu leaves from South Africa, with a flavour similar to blackcurrant, as well as African nutmeg, white ginger from Cameroon, Sumbala seeds from Burkina Faso, the savannah’s “super fruit” Baobab, and Lion’s Tail which introduces a sharp floral note, among other botanicals including bergamot, grapefruit and mint.
The African Explorer is bursting with distinctive citrus and minty-cassis notes from the African Buchu and grapefruit with a herbal botanical backbone and subtle notes of fresh ginger. Best enjoyed simply as a G&T or as a twist on a Negroni.
Having recently become B Corp certified, Elephant Gin places environmental sustainability at the core of its operations. The eco glass bottle is 15% lighter saving 60 tons worth of C02 per year plus uses 65% recycled glass. Each bottle is topped with a traditional cork stopper, decorated with a gold embossed label, laced with illustrations of luscious vegetation (buchu leaves!) hinting at the rich botanicals contained within, it’s decorated with a label containing a handwritten issue number and the name of one of the threatened tuskers that Elephant Gin supports; the bottle is adorned by traditional glass Maasai beads all handmade by Maasai tribal women in Kenya, with handy loops from which to hang your sunglasses.
Through the newly established, London-based Elephant Gin Foundation, 15% of bottle profits from this limited edition will be donated to the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) and its work in protecting the critically endangered African Forest Elephant based in West and Central Africa. AWF began working in Cameroon in 2015 and has made a long-term commitment to protecting the wildlife and biodiversity in the Dja landscape.
Each bottle is named Ya’a meaning elephant in the Cameroon Baka Language. The Baka people are the indigenous forest people in Cameroon. So as the original forest dwellers AWF is also working with them to tackle threats to wildlife in their forest home.
2023 also marks a moment of growth for Elephant Gin with the opening of a new state of the art distillery near Hamburg, Germany which will also be open to the public for distillery tours from October.
The African Explorer will be officially launched at the upcoming Bar Convent Berlin this week and will be available exclusively at the Craft Gin Club (available nationwide to members and non-members) and www.elephant-gin.com.
