The name Uganda Waragi is not a brand invention. It is a direct inheritance from the colonial period, when British troops stationed in Uganda took to calling the local spirit "war gin," a shorthand that stuck long enough to become the thing itself. The name outlasted the troops, the empire, and the century that produced both, and it is now the most recognized name for the spirit in the country.
Uganda Waragi is distilled from bananas, a base that gives it a character different from the grain or sugarcane spirits that dominate most other gin traditions. The result is something smoother than the name suggests, with a warmth that suits the climate it was made in.
The Oasis Waragi is the house cocktail at The Elephant Oasis, built on that same base. It combines Uganda Waragi with fresh-squeezed African orange, lemon-ginger syrup, and a lemon-lime soda, served over ice. The proportions were developed by the lodge's own bar team rather than borrowed from a standard recipe, which is why it doesn't taste like a gin and tonic with a different gin in it.
It is, by most accounts, the first drink guests order and the one they come back to. The bar also pours Nile, Club, Tusker, and Guinness, alongside East African wines and spirits, but the Waragi is the one that tends to follow guests home as a question: what was in that, exactly.
Read more about the full bar and dining offering on the Dining page.
