Award-winning gin from Namibia's dry interior

The innovative Naute Kristall Distillery is situated near Keetmanshoop in Namibia’s arid southern region. Established by Michael and Katrin Weder, it has become renowned for its outstanding, prizewinning gin

- Annelie Coleman

Naute Kristall Distillery’s NamGin tastes of sand dunes, mountains and open plains, and the charm of the Namib Desert. This is how Michael Weder describes the gin he produces on the fringes of one of the largest deserts in the world.

“The desert’s vastness and openness form the perfect backdrop for the fact that the base spirit is made from dates, the iconic fruit of the desert. The gin is infused with 13 botanicals,” says Weder, managing director of the business.

Naute Kristall lies on the C12, the road leading from Keetmanshoop to the Fish River Canyon, near the Naute Dam. The dam supplies potable water to Keetmanshoop and some surrounding farms, but is used predominantly for irrigation.

Dates are produced here on a commercial scale, but the fruit, although fit for human consumption, does not make the grade for retailing. Weder and his wife Katrin therefore use it for distilling alcohol.

The couple first ventured into liquor production when they bought Kristall Kellerei in Omaruru, central Namibia, in 2008. While not qualified winemakers or distillers, they attended the Garagiste Winemaking Course at Stellenbosch University, and later the Advanced Garagiste Course. This was followed by a distilling course at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany, in 2010. But Weder says that “one learns the most through interaction with experienced distillers”.

“In 2010, after we’d won a few medals for our products, notably grappa and brandy, at an international competition, we were approached to investigate whether we could do something with the underutilised fruit, especially dates, harvested at the Naute Irrigation Project,” says Weder.