What sets New Zealand whisky apart from global competitors and long-established brands is its premium quality, distinctive flavours and the country\u2019s reputation for prime food and beverages, Taylor says. <\/p>\n
Tash McGill, one of New Zealand\u2019s leading spirits writers, editor of More Good Drinks and an international spirits judge, agrees that location plays a major factor. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhisky 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,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Tash McGill is a writer and transformation strategist, with a background in tourism and food. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cThe unique character of our barley has been noted for its sweet, creamy consistency, and then we also have such great ingredients \u2013 our water, our wine casks, and our attitude!\u201d<\/p>\n
There are also some uniquely Kiwi expressions of flavour popping up. Thomson Whisky has pioneered a whole new category using m\u0101nuka 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 \u2013 whether that\u2019s the arid climate of Central Otago or the coastal conditions of Waiheke Island.<\/p>\n
This is why one Aotearoa distillery has been selected to represent Zealandia in a world-first global scientific study on climate\u2019s 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\u2019s maturation, taste and chemistry. <\/p>\n
The distillery in question, which has also gained recognition for championing New Zealand flavours, is P\u014dkeno Whisky. While this quiet town just south of Auckland might not have the romance of the Scottish Highlands or Kentucky\u2019s bourbon country, some remarkably innovative things are happening behind its distillery doors, including, as of this weekend, what may be the most \u2018New Zealand\u2019 whisky release.<\/p>\n
Founder Matt Johns, an Englishman with nearly three decades of experience in the whisky industry, chose P\u014dkeno for two reasons: its pure volcanic spring water and its unique geography. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt has a crazy subtropical microclimate. I mean, when you go over the Bombay Hills and drive down, it\u2019s Jurassic Park, it\u2019s covered in mist most of the day.\u201d <\/p>\n
P\u014dkeno Whisky Distillery founder Matt Johns. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
The levels of humidity and changes in temperature and atmospheric pressure in P\u014dkeno accelerate maturation, so their whisky ages much faster than in other parts of the world. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like dog years versus human years. All of these single malts that we\u2019re releasing at four to six years old are more like 20 years in Scottish terms.\u201d <\/p>\n
When he decided to set up shop, Johns didn\u2019t 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. <\/p>\n
\u201cObviously you can\u2019t just cut down native trees, nor can you export native New Zealand timber unless it\u2019s been transformed here,\u201d 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. <\/p>\n
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 \u201cBig Mike\u201d from Speyside calls P\u014dkeno home, making traditional barrels in New Zealand\u2019s only cooperage. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe really wanted to create something uniquely New Zealand, and that was the only way to make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pursuit of \u201cuniquely New Zealand\u201d also birthed the distillery\u2019s latest high-profile launch. Yesterday, after extensive development, P\u014dkeno Whisky officially released its licensed Lord of the Rings whisky, Ringbearer. <\/p>\n
\u201cAbout 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,\u201d Johns says. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe were excited, but we didn\u2019t want to create anything that felt like a gimmick, so we wanted to really think it through properly\u201d. <\/p>\n
They decided to mature it in several barrels, including manuka honey casks. For the latter, they lent barrels to a local m\u0101nuka honey producer, who aged m\u0101nuka honey in them before emptying the honey and returning the barrels for the whisky.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the end it really felt like a reflection of our culture and climate, as well as doing something special.\u201d<\/p>\n
P\u014dkeno Whisky Distillery. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not unusual,\u201d he explains \u201cWhisky takes years to mature, so the New Zealand industry has been dominated by gin to sustain itself, because it doesn\u2019t need to be put in a barrel and can be put to market a lot faster.\u201d That said, his data indicates there has been a 70% increase in volume on the previous year \u201cso there is no doubt the New Zealand category is growing, just off a very small base\u201d.<\/p>\n
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). <\/p>\n
\u201cThere 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The industry\u2019s largest issue, according to Heijdenrijk, is cost. <\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
For an industry measured in years of patience, New Zealand whisky is still in early days. But what it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What sets New Zealand whisky apart from global competitors and long-established brands is its premium quality, distinctive flavours…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":563621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[73530,12889,20133,22365,10779,28246,138,12974,277120,248734,31874,1437,1019,185,33450,117,111,139,69,73531,165,1961,60530,4276,18457,9192,80],"class_list":["post-563620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-alexia","tag-aotearoa","tag-attention","tag-attract","tag-awards","tag-begin","tag-business","tag-change","tag-distilleries","tag-distinctly","tag-flavours","tag-global","tag-international","tag-is","tag-known","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-santamaria","tag-their","tag-this","tag-whisky","tag-why","tag-winning","tag-writes","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563620","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=563620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/563621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}