Infused with botanicals that transport your senses to the South African veld, Cape Town Black Rhino Gin takes a walk on the wild side in support of the endangered rhino.

Doing your bit for nature conservation is as easy as pouring an ice-cold G&T this summer. A gin designed by the Cape Town Gin & Spirits Company to speak to the spirit of the South African wild, every sale of Cape Town Black Rhino Gin includes a donation towards saving the rhino and other endangered South African species through The Boucher Legacy.

The aromatic notes of buchu and rhino bush conjure up the wildness of the South African veld at first sip of this olive-hued premium gin. Distinctly flavoured with indigenous botanicals that grow wild in the renosterveld vegetation of the Western Cape, the herbaceous gin connects with the rhino on many levels. The black rhino once grazed the shrubs and grasses of the renosterveld, a vegetation type now itself under threat, as agriculture replaces veld with field. In fact renoster means rhinoceros, named by Afrikaans settlers back in the day when this majestic creature was a common sight throughout the land.

“Like the rhino, this gin truly captures what it is to be South African in every sip,” says director, Jaco Boonzaaier, “an authentic nod to local heritage and a salute to all things African.” With both the vegetation and the animal on the critical list, it’s fitting that a portion of the proceeds of Cape Town Black Rhino Gin sales go to support the work of The Boucher Legacy.

Ex-Protea cricket legend, Mark Boucher, founded the wildlife conservation organisation in 2012 to advocate for the protection of rhinos. Since then The Boucher Legacy has played an active part in combating rhino poaching, subsequently also funding projects involving other endangered species such as wild dogs and pangolins. When Cape Town Gin & Spirits Company developed this truly South African gin with a mission, they found their natural partner.

“If conservation is a war, then organisations like The Boucher Legacy are our foot soldiers,” says Craig van der Venter, founder and managing director of Cape Town Gin & Spirits Company. “They are the first defense rhinos and other endangered wildlife have against poaching, so we need to do everything in our power to support them.”

Poaching continues to be the biggest threat to all rhino populations, and 90% of recorded poaching incidents since 2017 took place in South Africa, according to the International Rhino Foundation’s 2022 report. It estimates that numbers of white rhino in Africa have decreased by 12% in the last four years with fewer than 16,000 left. The good news is that although the black rhino remains on the critically endangered list, due to successful protection measures its population has increased over the same period: from 5,495 in 2017 to 6,195 individuals in 2022. Continued anti-poaching measures remain vital to continue this positive trend.

Cape Town Black Rhino Gin brings new meaning to drinking responsibly: since the gin launched in October 2021, it contributed over R60,000 to The Boucher Legacy just in its first summer. Simply by choosing this gin varietal for your G&Ts and herbaceous gin cocktails, you’re doing your bit to support rhino conservation.

Play a part in protecting our South African natural heritage this summer, as you savour the heady aromas of our indigenous herbs.

Follow the Cape Town Gin & Spirits Company on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date on all the latest news and offerings and book your gin tasting at the new Cape Town Gin & Spirits Emporium at the V&A Waterfront on the website.