What sets New Zealand whisky apart from global competitors and long-established brands is its premium quality, distinctive flavours and the country’s reputation for prime food and beverages, Taylor says.
Tash McGill, one of New Zealand’s leading spirits writers, editor of More Good Drinks and an international spirits judge, agrees that location plays a major factor.
“Whisky is driven as much by climate as it is by ingredients because of the years it spends ageing. Because we have such diverse climate geography here, we also have very diverse whisky developing,” she says.
Tash McGill is a writer and transformation strategist, with a background in tourism and food. Photo / Supplied
“The unique character of our barley has been noted for its sweet, creamy consistency, and then we also have such great ingredients – our water, our wine casks, and our attitude!”
There are also some uniquely Kiwi expressions of flavour popping up. Thomson Whisky has pioneered a whole new category using mānuka smoke and South Island peat while Cardrona matures some of its whisky in ex-pinot noir casks from Central Otago wineries. All distilleries, however, produce something shaped by the landscape – whether that’s the arid climate of Central Otago or the coastal conditions of Waiheke Island.
This is why one Aotearoa distillery has been selected to represent Zealandia in a world-first global scientific study on climate’s impact on whisky. The study, conducted on single-malt whisky over six months in Brazil by Dr Aline Bortoletto, an expert in the science of alcoholic beverages, will explore how climate changes whisky’s maturation, taste and chemistry.
The distillery in question, which has also gained recognition for championing New Zealand flavours, is Pōkeno Whisky. While this quiet town just south of Auckland might not have the romance of the Scottish Highlands or Kentucky’s bourbon country, some remarkably innovative things are happening behind its distillery doors, including, as of this weekend, what may be the most ‘New Zealand’ whisky release.
Founder Matt Johns, an Englishman with nearly three decades of experience in the whisky industry, chose Pōkeno for two reasons: its pure volcanic spring water and its unique geography.
“It has a crazy subtropical microclimate. I mean, when you go over the Bombay Hills and drive down, it’s Jurassic Park, it’s covered in mist most of the day.”
Pōkeno Whisky Distillery founder Matt Johns. Photo / Supplied
The levels of humidity and changes in temperature and atmospheric pressure in Pōkeno accelerate maturation, so their whisky ages much faster than in other parts of the world.
“It’s like dog years versus human years. All of these single malts that we’re releasing at four to six years old are more like 20 years in Scottish terms.”
When he decided to set up shop, Johns didn’t just want his whisky to be made in Aotearoa; he wanted it to taste unmistakably of it too. This meant pursuing a rather ambitious goal: maturing whisky in native New Zealand timber, which is easier said than done.
“Obviously you can’t just cut down native trees, nor can you export native New Zealand timber unless it’s been transformed here,” he says, explaining how this prevented them from sending native timber to a cooperage in Australia to be made into a barrel and sent back.
For most, this would have been the end of the story, but Johns was determined. So determined, he lured a cooper from Scotland, and these days “Big Mike” from Speyside calls Pōkeno home, making traditional barrels in New Zealand’s only cooperage.
“We really wanted to create something uniquely New Zealand, and that was the only way to make it happen.”
The pursuit of “uniquely New Zealand” also birthed the distillery’s latest high-profile launch. Yesterday, after extensive development, Pōkeno Whisky officially released its licensed Lord of the Rings whisky, Ringbearer.
“About a year and a half ago we were approached by the American company that holds the spirits licence for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit,” Johns says.
“We were excited, but we didn’t want to create anything that felt like a gimmick, so we wanted to really think it through properly”.
They decided to mature it in several barrels, including manuka honey casks. For the latter, they lent barrels to a local mānuka honey producer, who aged mānuka honey in them before emptying the honey and returning the barrels for the whisky.
“In the end it really felt like a reflection of our culture and climate, as well as doing something special.”
Pōkeno Whisky Distillery. Photo / Supplied
So what do Kiwi whisky drinkers make of all this innovation and local flavour? Robert Brewer, chief executive of Spirits NZ and president of the World Spirits Alliance, says the New Zealand whisky market is still dominated by imported whisky, the vast bulk of which comes from Scotland.
“This is not unusual,” he explains “Whisky takes years to mature, so the New Zealand industry has been dominated by gin to sustain itself, because it doesn’t need to be put in a barrel and can be put to market a lot faster.” That said, his data indicates there has been a 70% increase in volume on the previous year “so there is no doubt the New Zealand category is growing, just off a very small base”.
Floris Heijdenrijk, director of popular whisky online retailer Whisky and More, agrees, saying the fledgling New Zealand whisky industry has experienced quite a boom over the past years (relative to its size, of course).
“There are some fantastic whiskies that are produced here now. Our customers are happy to trial all the ones we put on the website, and we do see many repeat sales.”
The industry’s largest issue, according to Heijdenrijk, is cost.
“Although it’s great, New Zealand whisky is not as affordable, and an entry-level New Zealand blended whisky will start at around $80, while the entry level for Scotch is around half that price.”
For an industry measured in years of patience, New Zealand whisky is still in early days. But what it’s already achieved with just a handful of distilleries suggests a promising future. Perhaps one that means, when people abroad are asked what New Zealand is famous for, a dram of whisky may one day make that list.