Amarula, the best-selling South African cream liqueur, recently announced the start of their new awareness and fundraising campaign in the U.S. to save the African Elephant. In partnership with the conservation group, WildlifeDIRECT, they launched a campaign titled “Don’t Let Them Disappear.” The global campaign aims to raise awareness of the ongoing struggle to protect the world’s declining African elephant population. The cornerstone of the campaign is a fundraising initiative whereby $1 from every bottle of Amarula sold in the U.S. between September 1, 2017 and December 31, 2017, will go directly to WildlifeDIRECT’s global conservation efforts.

To kick off the “Don’t Let Them Disappear” campaign in the U.S., Amarula hosted a visually-arresting event in New York City on August 12^th, World Elephant Day, wherein a life-sized ice sculpture of an African elephant was placed in the sweltering heat of New York City to illustrate the rapid loss of the African elephant population at the hands of poachers. The lifelike sculpture was carved by famed second generation ice sculptor, Shintaro Okamoto, and consisted of roughly 85 blocks of ice, weighing an estimated amount of 18,000 lbs.

The African elephant plays a crucial and symbolic role in the creation and spirit of Amarula. Once a year, elephants begin their journey to feast on the sun-ripened fruit of the Marula trees, which grow wild across the sub-equatorial plains of Africa. This signifies to local communities that the fruit is ready to be harvested and ultimately turned into Amarula. The Marula fruit is picked in the wild, transported to facilities where it is de-stoned and the skins are removed and the fruit pulp fermented. After fermentation, the Marula ‘spirit’ is distilled and matures in French oak barrels for at least two years. Finally, it is blended with shelf stable cream and bottled.

Amarula Cream Liqueur (17% abv)
Visual: Beige.
Nose: Soft tropical fruit, caramel, vanilla and cream.
Taste: Smooth and enveloping with a rich creamy texture. A slight spicy tang with a more forward cocoa-mango flavor. Quite unique and engaging.
Finish: Long with a lot of the sweetness tempered by a boost of Marula spirit.
Overall: One of the best cream liqueurs on the market. So much more depth of character than Irish cream. One taste and it’s unlikely you’ll go back to your old standby.
GSN Rating: A

For more information go to: Amarula