First Impressions
Juniperus procera — the African pencil cedar — grows only above 1,500 metres in the highlands of East Africa. Unlike the European juniper used in virtually every other gin, it is harvested fresh and used immediately, not dried. Procera was launched in 2019 in Nairobi with a mission to showcase premium African ingredients: the juniper comes from the Kijabe Forest at 2,200 metres, coriander and orris root from Morocco, honey from Somalia, pink peppercorn from Madagascar, Selim pepper from Nigeria, cardamom and mace from Tanzania, green tea and citrus from Kenya. The bottles are hand-blown at Kitingela Hot Glass in Kenya, with palm wood stoppers and local leatherwork. This is a pan-African gin.
Tasting
Eleven botanicals from across the continent. The nose is gentle fresh juniper and lime — the African juniper having a more herbaceous, greener character than European varieties. On the palate, lime is present but juniper dominates with a lovely oily mouthfeel. Tanzanian cardamom arrives with bold mint and eucalyptus notes. The fresh juniper provides a quality that dried juniper cannot match — more alive, more vegetal, more immediate. Somalian honey adds subtle sweetness, Madagascar pink peppercorn brings warmth. The finish is a peppery kick from Selim pepper, spicy and warming, the green tea providing tannic backbone.
The Bottom Line
Procera Blue Dot earns an 8 for being the most genuinely African gin in existence. Every botanical sourced from the continent, every bottle hand-blown in Kenya, the juniper harvested fresh at altitude from a species that grows nowhere in Europe. This is not an African-themed gin made in London — it is African gin made in Africa from African ingredients. Best sipped neat to appreciate the fresh juniper, or in a Martini where the oily mouthfeel and herbaceous character truly shine.
