Kiwi whiskey is about discovery and revelation; in case your introduction to New Zealand whiskey, Pōkeno is, phonetically, Paw Que No.
Pōkeno whiskey honors the pure spirit of Aotearoa (New Zealand) through the use of solely volcanic spring water from the North Island distillery’s surrounding hills and family-grown South Island barley. With over 25 years of expertise within the international whiskey trade, Matt Johns, collectively together with his spouse Celine, wished to create a number of the world’s best single malts utilizing solely New Zealand elements and put All-Blacks whiskey on the map.
At their state-of-the-art distillery in Pōkeno, an hour from Auckland, along with head distiller Rohan McGowan, they benefit from the freedom to ferment longer, distill slower and experiment to extract most physique and taste from New Zealand barley. McGowan says: “Lately there was a rising appreciation of the function that fermentation and distillation play within the growth of physique and taste earlier than the spirit is consumed. With our give attention to high quality over quantity, we had been in a position to ferment for no less than 72 hours after which double-distill extremely slowly, maximizing the copper contact by the method to refine our profile after which be sure that solely the purest spirit is taken for maturation.” 80% of Pōkeno single malt is matured in first-fill casks, permitting the cask to boost quite than dominate the flavour profile of every whisky.
PŌKENO ORIGIN is absolutely matured in first-fill bourbon barrels. PŌKENO DISCOVERY is a mixture of spirits aged in first-fill bourbon, oloroso and PX sherry casks. PŌKENO REVELATION combines the opposite spirits in absolutely aged, first-fill bourbon casks and pink wine casks from New Zealand till matured.
Whiskey distilling in New Zealand was born with the arrival of Scottish settlers within the 1830s. Many Scots settled within the Otago area and the trade flourished till the 1870s when draconian authorities rules made it troublesome for distillers to outlive. In 1974, the Baker household opened Willowbank Distillery in Dunedin, New Zealand, producing in style whiskeys, Wilsons and 45 South. The world’s largest distiller, Seagrams of Canada, purchased Willowbank within the Nineteen Eighties. Its flagship single malt “Lammerlaw” (named after a close-by mountain vary), was extremely regarded. However in 1997, Seagrams bought Willowbank to Australian brewer Fosters. It was mothballed or “give up”, as New Zealanders say, in 1997 and its stills had been despatched to Fiji.
In 2008, Greg Ramsey of The New Zealand Whiskey Assortment bought 443 casks of aged aged residue from Willowbank (aka Dunedin Distillery). The merchandise now embrace the Otago 20 12 months outdated, a uncommon collector’s merchandise just like the discontinued Milford’s and Preston’s. Different rarities embrace Dunedin DoubleWood, Dogger & Ditch and New Zealand whiskey assortment 1988 Single Malt.
Their Dunedin Doublewood, 18 12 months outdated, comes from the identical inventory as ‘The Oamaruvian’ Cask Power.
Thomson Distillery opened in 2014. Its Manuka Smoke ‘Progress Report’ is created from 100% New Zealand-grown malted barley, smoked over Manuka wooden and nonetheless distilled by a hand-beaten copper nonetheless. Their Two-Tone Launch refers on to the 2 kinds of barrels used throughout maturation. One is European oak that beforehand contained New Zealand pink wine. The opposite is American white oak used solely for whiskey (in all probability bourbon).
Thomson Whisky’s French Oak & Smoke is a restricted version bottling handcrafted by the distillery. The whiskey is smoked with South Island peat after which matured in a neighborhood Pinot Noir cask. As with different releases, it makes use of 100% NZ grown malted barley for the mash.
“Simply Hatched” Single Malt is one other properly acquired New Zealand whisky. Began in 2011 by Desiree Reid with mentorship from the previous Head of Distilling at Maker’s Mark, Dave Pickerel, and water from Alvin’s properly dug by her father, the primary spirit was produced in 2015. The family-owned and operated, grain-to-glass craft Cardrona Distillery Cardrona makes all its spirits on web site. Its whiskeys embrace Rising Wings Solera Sherry & Bourbon and Central Otago Pinot Noir.
