Roger Jorgensen was minding his own business in South Africa when Guy Brennan contacted the master distiller and wine maker. He had heard of Roger and sent him some fresh African juniper berries from the mountains of Kenya and asked him if they could be used to make gin. Roger thought why not, scribbled some instructions on the back of a cigarette pack, and sent it to Guy.

Australian-born Guy has been working in almost all of Africa for some time with development and micro-financing. He understands many things, but not how to make gin based on some scribbled instructions. He invited Roger to Kenya who was immediately taken with the whole idea of making gin from fresh juniper berries. After all, with his wine making he never used dried raisins, always fresh. With something such as juniper which has such a huge impact on the flavour of gin, why were gin distillers for the last 300 years content to use dried?

Having now a master distiller at the helm, the potential of using fresh African juniper berries became clear, even immediately off the still. However, as important as use of the berries was, Guy wanted everything to be African, from all the botanicals to the hand-blown glass bottles. If you’re suddenly hearing the sound of a cash register going off in the background as all these costs are added up, you’re not far off the mark. Is the world ready for an ultra-premium African gin with an accompanying ultra-premium price tag?

In today’s episode of the Distillers Journal podcast, we’ll be talking to Roger Jorgensen and Guy Brennan from their distillery in Kenya. While at this moment you might be thinking this is the craziest idea you’ve ever heard of, you won’t be thinking that by the end.