The History of New Zealand Whisky
When you think of a great whisky and it's origins, New Zealand might not be the first country that comes to mind. You might first think of other places around the world, like Ireland, Scotland and maybe even the United States. However, New Zealand's history with whisky is more remarkable than you may think. We once had a thriving whisky culture.
Read on to find out about our whiskey heritage, why NZ whisky is on the rise again, and what makes 1919 Distilling's whisky so special.
The history of New Zealand whisky
New Zealand's foreray into whisky making began in the 1830's when Scottish settlers arrived in the country. With many of them choosing to settle down in the Otago region in the South Island, whisky found it's unlikely home in the small towns of Dunedin, Oamaru and even Gore.
The new New Zealand whisky industry was flourishing, so much so that Scottish banks were becoming wary of NZ's rising whisky popularity. The banks agreed to fund the country’s railways on the proviso that the government outlawed local distilling. Thus, from the 1870's the country's whisky industry was shut down.
The laws were evenutally lifted, and in the 1970's Willowbank Distillery opened in Dunedin and was largely responsible for the resurgence of whisky culture in New Zealand. Willowbank Distillery was most famously known for it's single malt whisky until it's closure in 1997.
Nowadays, Kiwi's are free to distill whisky without the risk of Scottish banks having their say, and makers are no longer confined to the most southern regions of the country. Which brings us to the award winning whisky of 1919 Distilling...
1919 Distilling's Whisky
1919 Distilling is reasonably new to the whisky game in New Zealand, but we take our craft seriously and are here to stay. Just recently our Kirikiriroa Release received a bronze medal in the 2020 NZ spirit awards, winning out against 83 entries from around the world. But how did a small New Zealand whisky producer such as ourselves beat some of the largest and oldest whisky producers in the world with our first ever whisky release?
We like to give thanks to the magic of New Zealand, and our high quality, hand-crafted, small-batch releases.
For us a great whisky is all in the attention to detail. It's about following time honoured, traditional methods. Focussing on quality over quantity. Making the most of the beautiful New Zealand grown grain. And above all, it's putting all of those elements together to create a high quality, Kiwi whisky.
The New Zealand climate is ideally suited for the production of malt whisky, with some of the best barley in the world, and the purest of water sources. So while some other NZ whisky brands may import their grain or their entire product, at 1919 Distilling, we believe leveraging what our land offers us and distilling the whisky right here in NZ is what makes our it so special.
We're not out to create more Scottish and Irish whiskies, we're here to create something NZ can be proud of. That's why we're also part of Distilled Spirits Aotearoa, working to help establish NZ's whisky guidelines and standards.
We may be small, but we're passionate about what we do, and we're just getting started. If you'd like to check out our Kirikiriroa Release or find out how to be a part of our Founder's Club, head here.
