Culture Whisky
2025, as a 10-year-old, but the family-owned distillery is already producing spirit daily, which fans of Cardrona snap up by the barrel. The distillery is open to the public and quickly becoming a staple on the tourist circuit. The hand-beaten copper pot whisky stills were hammered by the best: fourthgeneration Scottish coppersmiths Forsyths of Rothes, who cater for a discerning clan of clients, including Macallan, Glenfarclas, Bowmore, Highland Park and Dalmore. Desiree is devoted to her craft and passionate about making superlative single malt the time-honoured way, with no corners cut. This, the world’s most southerly distillery, is one of only a handful worldwide founded and run by a woman. Granny would be pleased. cardronadistillery.com
Whisky business
Aficionados of the elixir hailed for centuries as the “water of life” have resurrected New Zealand’s once-acclaimed distilling industry and are already making a big impact. STO RY TI M WA R R I N GTON
MANY YEARS AGO, my redoubtable, Cuban-cigar-smoking grandmother asked me to pour her a drink. I reached for an Irish Cream. “I said ‘drink’, ya wee blouse,” she growled with her rolling Scots burr. Granny took her Lammerlaw Single Malt with a splash of water. Sadly, Granny and her favourite tipple are no more. New Zealand’s illustrious and highly acclaimed whisky industry, dating back to the 1830s, came to an abrupt end in 1997. The world’s most southerly distillery, Dunedin’s famed Willowbank, and its flagship elixir Lammerlaw, ceased production when mega-brewer and 86 Kia Ora
then-owner Foster’s shut up shop and sent their copper stills to Fiji to make rum. The reserves, hundreds of barrels of caskstrength whisky, were put into storage in an old aeroplane hangar and later auctioned off. The end. At least it would have been, were it not for a handful of enterprising Kiwis who are breathing life back into the New Zealand whisky story. And they’re doing it Aotearoa style, with locally sourced barley, yeast, mānuka and pure, pure water, garnished with a healthy dose of Scottish heritage. They’re resurrecting our uisge beatha (Gaelic for “water of life”).
CARDRONA DISTILLERY, CARDRONA Their whisky is like bonsai; it requires patience and dedication. Both of which owners Desiree and Ash Whitaker have by the barrel load. And they have lots of barrels – ex sherry, ex bourbon – like hens’ teeth to procure, but ideal for maturing sublime whisky. Unlike the wee sculpted trees, there’s nothing diminutive about New Zealand’s largest single-malt distillery. The grand, bespoke stone buildings that form whisky HQ caress the landscape near Wanaka, and they’re epic. Their first single malt is due to be bottled in
THOMSON WHISKY, AUCKLAND Mathew and Rachael Thomson began their whisky chase the same way you’d start a band – they got together and started tinkering. There were no delusions of grandeur. It was never about taking over the world. The couple distil, mature and bottle at a base in Riverhead, just northwest of Auckland, using two hand-beaten copper pot stills. They double distil, using 100 percent local ingredients: Canterbury-grown malted barley and yeast and pure New Zealand water. “We wanted to create the best spirit we could afford, that was proudly made in New Zealand, and share our journey with anyone who liked our whisky,” says Mathew. They originally invested in two barrels of aged single malt from Willowbank Distillery to release under the Thomson label as independent bottlers. “It was a way to test our palate as well as the market. We figured if it didn’t sell we’d drink it ourselves.” But they weren’t that lucky and their hobby
Clockwise from above: Thomson Whisky’s award-winning Manuka Smoke Single Malt; outside and inside the Cardrona Distillery in Central Otago; Opposite: Mathew and Rachael Thomson.
blossomed seamlessly into a fully fledged family business. The couple transitioned from independent bottlers to distillers in early 2014 when they launched their own distillery. They focused on hand-crafting their own recipes by traditional methods for contemporary ends. “We love what we do.” And so it seems, does the industry. The awards rolled in. Lots of them. Three gold medals at the 2016 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, four silvers at the 2017 International Wine and Spirits Competition, they also picked up another two golds in San Francisco in 2014. The Thomsons are proudest of the gold
medal for their most popular drop, the Manuka Smoke Single Malt – a cocklewarming dram that rarely makes it to the taster’s spittoon. The couple shy from the sameness of generating batch after batch of standard whisky, no matter how fine. Like alchemists, they tinker, explore and experiment with flavours, always respecting age-old methods that honour quality and craft. They’re inspired by music, design, craft beer, artefacts, mysteries, family and spirits. And their insatiable curiosity is reflected in the progressive spirit they produce. It’s fresh, fanciful and unapologetically bold. thomsonwhisky.com February 2018 87
Culture Whisky
—— The ‘angel’s share’ (the portion lost to evaporation) allows room in the barrel for the sea air that gives tipplers a unique taste of the Waitaki district.
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WORKSHOPS WHISKY, CHRISTCHURCH The Workshops Whisky distillery released its inaugural bottles last year to great acclaim – an unpeated three-year-old single malt at 46 percent. Later, it added a mānuka-smoked drop to its spirit stable, which tasting notes describe as “uniquely meaty”. Father and son Doug and Anthony Lawry were bottling whisky for another company when they daydreamed that perhaps they could make their own. Why not? So they did, including the mash-tuns and copper stills. They mature their spirit in virgin oak barrels. They distil and bottle on site in Addington using barley grown in Canterbury and water from aquifers 130 metres below the Canterbury Plains. Now, the only problem they have is keeping up with demand. workshopswhisky.com 88 Kia Ora
Clockwise from above: Waitui Manuka Honey Malt Whisky; bottles of Workshops Whisky; New Zealand Whisky Company pioneers (from left) Greg Ramsay, Tom Holder and Troy Trewin.
THE NEW ZEALAND WHISKY COMPANY, OAMARU When the company bought 80,000 litres of ex-Willowbank spirit in 443 barrels in 2010 and released it in various incarnations as independent bottlers, it was always on the cards that they would eventually distil their own. And, according to brand ambassador Cyril Yates, that’s exactly what they’re doing. “It’s the next chapter in the exciting story of the New Zealand Whisky Company.” The multi-award-winning whisky firm, maker of the famed Oamaruvian, is a member of the exalted club releasing 30-year-old single malt, the only one in New Zealand,
which in turn is only the fourth country to do so, after Scotland, Ireland and Japan. Since 2010, they’ve been building a name at home and around the globe. They export to Australia, the UK, Europe and now the US and have won many, many golds along the way. Their 1988 single malt is the highestscoring Southern Hemisphere whisky in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible. At their base and cellar-door, you can taste the spirit for yourself. The “angel’s share” (the portion lost to evaporation) allows room in the barrel for the sea air that gives tipplers a unique taste of the Waitaki District. thenzwhisky.com
P H OTO G R AP HY S U PPLI E D
KIWI SPIRIT DISTILLERY, TAKAKA Kiwi Spirit’s Waitui Manuka Honey Malt Whisky is so popular that existing supplies are limited now to a few select outlets. The good news is the next batch, aged in mānuka-lined wine barrels, has just been bottled. Waitui Whisky is distilled from a malt mash and aged for a minimum of six years in French oak honey mead barrels. It’s then balanced with the ancient waters of Te Waikoropupū aquifer, resulting in a distinctive single-malt honey whisky. Only small batches of the Waitui Whisky are produced, then hand-bottled and labelled ready for sale. Tasting notes describe an “instant warm blanket of smooth, rich and well-rounded whisky”. Kiwi Spirit’s large range includes gin, vodka and blue agave (commonly called tequila). kiwispiritdistillery.co.nz