{"id":216947,"date":"2026-01-04T22:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T22:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/216947\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T22:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T22:46:09","slug":"on-the-up-a-bourbon-with-a-hawkes-bay-twist-the-us-made-spirit-finished-in-local-pinot-barrels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/216947\/","title":{"rendered":"On The Up: A bourbon with a Hawke\u2019s Bay twist – the US-made spirit finished in local pinot barrels"},"content":{"rendered":"
Gustafson partnered with Decibel Wines owner Daniel Brennan to produce what he claims to be the only whiskey bottled in Hawke\u2019s Bay.<\/p>\n
Their new release, Nowhere Bourbon, is distilled and aged in Indiana, where it develops the caramelised notes \u201cexpected of a true classic\u201d.<\/p>\n
It is then shipped to Hawke\u2019s Bay, finished in hand-selected pinot noir barrels in Hastings and bottled in Napier.<\/p>\n
\u201cKiwis love their pinot, and so we wanted to create something that tailored to the New Zealand taste.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pair released about 300 bottles in October, costing $120 for 700ml.<\/p>\n
Nowhere Bourbon bottles being labelled during production in Napier.<\/p>\n
Launching a bourbon here was not without risk, Gustafson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes, when something isn\u2019t common, there\u2019s a reason,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to build a market while the economy isn\u2019t strong, so there\u2019s uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n
So far, the response has been positive. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be at whiskey festivals and people say, \u2018I\u2019m a single-malt drinker, I don\u2019t like bourbon\u2019. Then they try ours and go, \u2018Maybe I do like bourbon\u2019 … So, it\u2019s just that they are not drinking the right ones,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Nowhere Bourbon is sold online and through selected liquor stores, bars and restaurants throughout New Zealand.<\/p>\n
For first-time drinkers, Gustafson hopes for one reaction.<\/p>\n
\u201cA bit of surprise that it is a bourbon that they really like,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe original bourbon gives it a little bit of vanilla-and-cinnamon type of flavours, and then the wine barrels give it some of that dark fruit. So, it ends up being a very smooth, easy-sipping whiskey.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gustafson partnered with Decibel Wines owner Daniel Brennan to produce what he claims to be the only whiskey…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[18518,1561,86410,138,71946,1976,78,440,111,139,69,90,130932,13737,223,43071,810,130931,102],"class_list":["post-216947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-barrels","tag-bay","tag-bourbon","tag-business","tag-finished","tag-hawkes","tag-in","tag-local","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-pinot","tag-spirit","tag-the","tag-twist","tag-up","tag-usmade","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}