Dunedin Craft Distillers, which claims to be the first distillery in New Zealand to produce botanical spirits from surplus bakery products, has to date only produced gin, vodka, select liqueurs and a naked spirit.
But the distillery will soon mark its foray into the world of whisky – a limited run of ‘‘bread whisky’’ due to hit shelves by early December.
Co-founder Jenny McDonald said the distillery was used to branching out and whisky was ‘‘a logical step to take’’.
‘‘We wouldn’t be doing it unless we felt it was adding a positive advantage to the business.
‘‘Like every other hospitality business, we need to ensure our longevity and ability to survive ups and downs.
‘‘I think you’ll actually find very, very few distilleries around New Zealand now who maybe started with gin, simply just doing gin still – most of them are diversifying in one shape or another.’’
The distillery made all its own alcohol from scratch using surplus bakery products, sourced locally, that would otherwise end up in landfill.
Bread whisky had been on the cards since it started, in 2020, but had been in the works in earnest for the past three years, Ms McDonald said.
It was not unusual for distillers to start producing gin and vodka before moving to whisky, which needed to sit in a cask for about three years before it could be sold.
‘‘The new thing is that we’re producing whisky from a waste product.
‘‘I don’t think, certainly in a commercial sense, that certainly hasn’t been done in New Zealand before.’’
The product was ‘‘really experimental’’ and so far produced only in very small volumes.
Brewed and distilled from a bread mash and aged in Hungarian oak casks, it was not unlike a lowland Scotch in profile – mellow, a vanilla taste with notes of sweet fig and raisin.
This first release was aged for 18 months and initial feedback had been very positive.
About 20-30 litres would be released in 100ml bottles ahead of Christmas, with a limited number of 20-litre casks also available for presale.
Dunedin had ‘‘a venerable history in the whisky department’’ and Dunedin Craft Distillers would consider distilling more whisky in future, Ms McDonald said.
Now able to process sufficient volumes to a consistently high standard, they were finally in a position ‘‘to start to explore whisky seriously’’.
There were some real opportunities for a modern take on an old favourite, in a Dunedin context – and with a twist.
‘‘You certainly won’t find many [whiskies] out there that are starting from cheese rolls and raspberry buns.’’
