New Zealand is fast becoming renowned for making beautiful spirits, created by entrepreneurs who are making the most of our pure waters. Catherine Milford found a few distillers making a name for themselves in Aotearoa and beyond.
HASTINGS DISTILLERS, HASTINGS
Hastings Distillers was established in 2019 by winemakers Kate Galloway and her French partner David Ramonteu, celebrated winemakers who set out to offer New Zealand’s first Biogro certified organic spirits and liqueurs. They have already taken out several national and international awards, including an International Wine & Spirits Competition gold for its Albertine gin, and a NZ Spirits Association trophy for its Campari-like aperitif, L’Opera. They have also just released what has to be the most enticing of aperitifs – a Barrel-Aged Negroni, aged in French oak. Kate and David follow nature’s lead, sourcing foraged, organic or biodynamic botanicals; special ‘gin gardens’ in the Hawke’s Bay region provide organic citrus, orchard fruit, herbs, spices and flowers. Visitors to the very Parisian tasting room on Hastings’ Heretaunga Street can choose a cocktail, a flight, or do a bespoke gin tasting with the gin makers, where they can ask questions while enjoying tasty local snacks. For more information visit hastingsdistillers.com
DANCING SANDS DISTILLERY, GOLDEN BAY
One of New Zealand’s most awarded distilleries, Dancing Sands was named in honour of the Dancing Sands Spring, one of the freshwater springs in Golden Bay’s Te Waikoroppupū Springs. Each bottle of gin is blended with the water from the aquifer that feeds Dancing Sands Spring, and husband and wife team Ben and Sarah Bonoma have come up with some gin flavours that are, quite literally, taking over the world. Their Sun-Kissed Gin is made with fresh strawberries and locally sourced rhubarb, while their spice-forward Sauvignon Blanc Gin has become one of their most popular drinks. Go and visit the team at the Tākaka distillery, enjoy a free tasting and learn how these exceptional gins are made. Cellar door hours are 10am–4pm Monday–Saturday. Visit dancingsands.com for more.
BLACK COLLAR DISTILLERY
Located in the stunning Bay of Islands, Black Collar makes small batch rum, gin and vodka that has a very unique flavour. Their rum starts with just molasses and water, and from there yeast is added and fermentation begins. From there, it gets distilled twice before being sent to the barrels to ‘age gracefully’. Delicious in a daiquiri (their spiced rum is superb), Black Collar rum is blended with natural spices and no artificial flavours or concentrates, and it’s particularly delicious in a daiquiri. The distillery has just moved premises and is awaiting its new liquor licence, but head to blackcollardistillery.com to check out what they have to try.
1919 DISTILLING, AUCKLAND
With recent wins including Best New Zealand in Category for their Flavoured Gin, Double Gold for their 1919 Classic, and Gold for their Cane Overproof Rum at the recent New Zealand Spirits Awards, 1919 distiller Soren Crabb is delighted he followed his dream and gave up being a cruise ship navigator to become a craft distiller. This innovative distillery creates handcrafted gin, rum and whisky, all made here in New Zealand, with ethanol made from sugar cane the way it was done back in the 1900s. Renowned for their annual Kiwiana gin releases (previous years have included Chocolate Fish and Pineapple Lump flavoured gins), you can take a tour of this fascinating Auckland-based distillery and learn first hand how these drinks are made. For more information visit 1919distilling.com
PUHOI ORGANIC DISTILLERY & CAVIAR HOUSE
This boutique distillery just north of Auckland is New Zealand’s first and only solar-powered distillery. Specialising in handcrafted, bespoke spirits produced in very limited editions, the spirits are
designed as an holistic experience, with ‘alternative’ alcohol available including vodka, gin, rum, brandy, schnapps, grappa, ouzo, aquavit and whisky. The distillery’s Connoisseur Club members
get premium access to a wider range, including starka (oak-matured vodka), vodka-ratafia, jenever, spicy dark rum, absinthe and more; or if you’d like something that suits your very own tastes,
you can take it one step further and order a custom-made spirit. With classes on Enotherapy (the art of creating curative alcohol-based herbal tonics), functional food and beverages and even perfumes, this is a truly fascinating experience. Visits can be arranged by appointment only through spirits.net.nz
SCAPEGRACE
Known for its beautiful gins and vodkas, Scapegrace was created by brothers-in-law Daniel McLaughlan and Mark Neal, with friend Richard Bourke. This June the company announced its biggest release to date – a new $25M sustainable distillery in Central Otago. Located on Lake Dunstan, just 45 minutes from Queenstown and 10 minutes from Cromwell, the distillery is set to open in late 2023, and construction has already begun on the first building, which contains the Scapegrace head office, bottling hall, warehouse and the first barrel room which opens this month. Each barrel room holds almost 2000 casks of whisky, with three more barrel rooms planned for the future. As well as distillery tours and food and beverage options, plans are also underway for a walking track through the property to enjoy the historic setting. Visit scapegracedistillery.com for more information.
CARDRONA
Built in 2015, Cardrona was built within one year. It started distilling in October, and laid its first cask on November 5. Now the company’s birthday, it also happens to be the birthday of the CEO’s mother. Everything is from malted barley, and they create their own alcohol on site. Starting out with whisky, Cardona then went on to vodka and liqueur. Gin came in 2016, the last to enter the
core range. The distillery is open every day of the year except non-alcohol sales days, and is open until 7pm daily. There is now a fully fledged restaurant selling dishes tailored to be complemented
with a cocktail created by Cardrona’s own spirits. Visit cardronadistillery.com for more.
ARIKI
Inspired by their Polynesian roots, Ariki began in 2014, with a vision to create premium gin and vodka using organic ingredients sourced primarily from the islands of Polynesia and New Zealand water. Their gin is made with wild manuka flower from Matakana, with orange peel, juniper, bitter almonds, coriander, angelica root, orrisroot, lemon peel liquorice root, black pepper, cardamom and cinnamon blended with the tropical base notes of vanilla and coconut. Their vodka is made with coconut sourced from Tonga. Ariki is distilled in Mauao/ Mt Maunganui in the region known as Te Moana a Toi te Huatahi, otherwise known as the Bay of Plenty. For more visit arikispirit.com
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