Westnile Distilling Company Limited

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Westnile Distilling Company Limited [1] is a private beverage company that started in Arua, Uganda. It manufactures gin, mineral water, and glucose solution.

Arua Place in Northern Region, Uganda

Arua is a city and commercial centre within the Arua District in the Northern Region of Uganda.

Uganda Republic in East Africa

Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a country in East-Central Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, shared with Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda is in the African Great Lakes region. Uganda also lies within the Nile basin, and has a varied but generally a modified equatorial climate.

Gin Spirit

Gin is a distilled alcoholic drink that derives its predominant flavour from juniper berries. Gin is one of the broadest categories of spirits, all of various origins, styles, and flavour profiles, that revolve around juniper as a common ingredient.

Contents

Genesis

Although conceived as an idea in 1972, factory construction started at a fast pace in Arua around 1978. Then civil wars and instability halted work plus forced the company's founders into exile. When Uganda regained peace, construction was resumed in 1989 and finished.

Arson attack

In 2005, arsonists struck and burnt down the 4 Billion UgX factory on Ujuo Road (behind Arua Public Secondary School). Manufacturing lines and products worth millions were destroyed, but the concrete tower still remains. [2] The rest of the factory was saved by Civil Aviation Authority trucks from Arua Airfield after the company owner Dr Eric Adriko phoned the CAA Deputy Managing Director Dr. Makuza. Meanwhile, the LC 1 Chairman and residents protected the other units.

Eric Tiyo Sekebuga Adriko is a Ugandan industrialist, mechanical engineer, businessman, academic and politician. Effective 12 September 2016, he serves as the Chancellor of Muni University, one of the public universities in the country.

Recovery

In January 2007, a new factory was reborn out of the ashes and relocated to Plot 6 - 12 Makamba Road, Lungujja, in a neighbourhood named Kosovo (within Kampala). The company launched Hunters Gin plus its own 'Sunshine Mineral Water' extracted from underground rocks on the new premise. It had now joined the mineral water craze gripping Uganda. With a process and machinery unique in East and Central Africa, it continues to produce its products: Adrikos 7 Hills Vodka, White Rhino Gin and Rum Raggi.

Lungujja Place in Central Uganda, Uganda

Lungujja is a neighborhood within Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city.

Kampala Capital city in Uganda

Kampala is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper is estimated to have population of 1,680,800 people in 2019 and is divided into five boroughs of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Rubaga Division.

The company has a strict policy against consumption of alcohol by Under 18s.

See also

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References

  1. "Adriko Group of Companies Kampala Uganda - Home of the Best Waragi, Gin and Vodka". Adriko Group of Companies Kampala Uganda - Home of the Best Waragi, Gin and Vodka. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
  2. Fire Guts Adrikos Distillery (Published 30 January 2005)