The allure of perfume drew Desiree Whitaker to distilling but a perfume of another kind won her heart … whisky.

The link between perfume and whisky is not as weird as it seems – they are both alcohol-based products flavoured with a plant of some description. With perfume, it's neroli, rose or jasmine – with whisky it's malted barley, rye or corn.

Whitaker's journey to making New Zealand's best whisky as the founder of Cardrona Distillery is a mixture of high roads, low roads and dead-ends.

She grew up as the daughter of two teetotallers on a farm in Winchester, South Canterbury. So, when she ended up working in bars in England it was a complete head-turner.

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Simon Darby/Wanaka Photography Cardrona Distillery staff, from left: Mikey Austin, Desiree Whitaker, Sara Elsom and Jam Barber.

"I was part way through my degree at Massey and took a year or two off and went to UK and at one stage I was running a bar that sold the most Bollinger in UK … it was steep learning curve for a girl from a family that didn't drink alcohol."

A stint at The Ladbroke Arms in Notting Hill was her first flirtation with whisky. "The owner there had the most incredible of malts and they just fascinated me with the different colours, the aromas, the bottles."

For her 21st birthday she went to Scotland, including a visit to a small distillery. "I can't hand on heart say I was going to run a whisky distillery one day, but that period of time must have sowed the seed."

She came home, graduated, ran her parents' farm business, got married, bought a farm, was elected to the Fonterra council, separated, got divorced and was left with the farm. "That caused a lot of soul-searching as to what I really wanted to do. I had a list of ideas that turned into short lists, another list of ideas, another short-list."

The final short-list read: perfume-maker. Research into that led to the realisation perfume is "mostly alcohol" and that spirits are effectively "perfumed alcohol, diluted".

SUPPLIED Desiree Whitaker from Cardrona Distillery.

To learn more about distilling she signed up for a vodka-making course in the United States where she thought she was going to be taught the whole process from mashing (creating a sugary liquid from soaked grains) to fermenting and distilling. What she learned was that most "craft" vodkas in the United States were the exact opposite –manufacturers bought bulk ethanol and flavoured it. "It made me so angry," she says.

With her farm running profitably enough, she committed to a deep dive into the true art of distilling.

"As I started researching more and learning more – and I was lucky that the farm was able to fund me – the interest in perfume fell away and spirit alcohol cemented itself and in particular whisky, specifically single malt whisky."

Whitaker spent over two years learning as much as she could in the US and the home of whisky, Scotland.

When she was ready to start her own whisky distillery, she sold her farm and set about finding a site for her "vision".

SUPPLIED Cardrona Distillery found Desiree Whitaker set up in central Otago as the area "held a special place in my heart".

She thought she'd stay close to home in South Canterbury but was drawn to the Cardrona Valley.

"We'd always holidayed at Wanaka and grandad had a little house there – it held a special place in my heart and the more I travelled the more I realised South Canterbury wasn't the right place."

What makes Cardrona special is the "the remoteness, the water supply, quality of the air".

"The maturation of whisky different to wine – winemakers keep topping up wine barrels to replace what's evaporated. With whisky the part that evaporates – the angel's share – is not replaced." As a result, the porous barrels are impregnated with local air – and with it the smells and microscopic bugs of the area.

"The people who have the great noses can detect the local flora in the area when they taste whisky … if there's pine they can detect pine, if there's rose they can detect rose – and wee pollen spores infiltrate the whisky. The place where it's matured has an impact on the flavour.

SUPPLIED Inside the barrel room at Cardrona Distillery.

Whitaker admits her vision for Cardrona exceeded her budget for the architecturally-designed site but found backers in an unlikely place.

"The definition of unconditional love is when your teetotal parents invest in a whisky distillery," she says with a laugh. "I also meet my husband Ash just before we started building – and he sold his transport business to invest."

The distillery didn't expect to release a whisky until they had a "signature" 10-year-old but was cajoled into an early release by respected industry experts.

Their first single malt – Just Hatched – is only three-years-old but it's drinking down awards.

It was named best New Zealand's best Single Malt Whisky 12-years and under at the 2020 World Whiskies Awards in the UK, it also scored remarkably well in a blind-tasting by Whisky Magazine – averaging 9.2 out of 10 – putting it in the top 50 (out of 4000) whiskies reviewed the magazine. The reviewers described it as tasting of "fresh sponge cake with layers of vanilla custard and jam" and "Oreo cookie crumble … and a touch of chili flakes".

Simon Darby/Wanaka Photography Cardrona Distillery whiskey is made from locally grown malt.

People talk about the soul of winery as being is amongst the vines, Whitaker says, "but the soul of the distillery is the distillery itself".

If that's the case, then in terms of whisky, New Zealand was – for a short time – a soulless place.

When Willowbank distillery in Dunedin (with brands included Wilson's and 45 South) was sold to international spirit maker Seagram's it was the last active distillery in New Zealand. When Seagram's sold it to Aussie brewer Foster's the distillery was shut down and the remaining, full, casks were sold or stored in an old hangar.

In 2009, the Oamaru-based New Zealand Whisky Collection picked up those barrels – some 80,000 litres – and rebranded, repackaged and re-invigorated the New Zealand scene. Some barrels were sold to start-up distillers to give them aged whisky while they set about creating their own as, by definition, whisky must be aged for a minimum of three years.

Greg Ramsay founded The NZ Whisky Collection after evaluating the stashed-away barrels from Willowbank. Tasmania-based, he started the New Zealand venture because he could see where whisky was heading globally and felt potential Kiwi investors didn't have the necessary "whisky literacy" to grab the opportunity.

Simon Darby/Wanaka Photography Cardrona Distillery's first single malt – Just Hatched – was named best New Zealand's best Single Malt Whisky 12-years and under at the 2020 World Whiskies Awards in the UK this month.

"Luckily coming out of the Tasmania, I knew the industry was booming at the time. New Zealand is ahead of Tasmania in beer and wine but Tasmania is well ahead when it comes to whisky. There are 60 distilleries in Tasmania and they all struggle to produce enough product."

The NZ Whisky Collection was initially focused on the old Willowbank stock but moved to distilling its own products four years ago and will release its first young whisky – Oamruvian Revolucion – in May, although there will be sneak previews at Dramfest on March 7-8 in Christchurch.

It's been "micro" matured in small barrels of 25 and 50 litres. Ramsay says there's no better example of how age can be just a number with whisky, claiming the four-year-old whisky is as good as some of their 18-year-olds from Willowbank. "It's better made, has more balance, more bulk, more body, it's been matured in better casks."

Whitaker says "New Zealand absolutely has place within the world of whisky" and believes the number of new distilleries opening is good for everyone.

"I don't think we're competing against each other – a whisky collector doesn't buy a bottle of Cardrona whisky at the expense of not getting something else – they get both."

Simon Darby/Wanaka Photography The demystifying of distilling and the loosening of laws around making spirits has contributed to the growth in local distilleries.

WHISKY'S RISE



Ramsay ascribes the whisky renaissance to a variety of factors – particularly the demystifying of distilling and the loosening of laws around making spirits.

"I think the Scots did an amazing, if unintended, job of creating a myth around whisky – that it was some convoluted, scientific practice. The great thing about distilling is that you can make world class spirit in your backyard or garage.

"And with governments softening regulations it makes it easier to distil. In Australia we had to overturn three acts of parliament just to run a small still."

Mat Thomson of Thomson Whisky also credits the craft beer boom for helping "pave the way for a craft spirits scene".

And Thomson would know, he's based at the Hallertau brewery in West Auckland.

"Craft beer started to open a conversation about small to medium-sized producers doing it from scratch, using real local ingredients and who cared about quality – so it's the natural pre-curser to a craft distilling wave."

On that note, he adds that some drinkers may not realise that the first stage of whisky production is the making of a crude beer (called "wash" which then goes on to be fermented and distilled).

While made like beer, with malt, whisky needs a special malt that wasn't available in New Zealand when Thomson started.

"I guess we helped created a bit of demand for it in the early days because we were ready to roll with distilling and just needed a malt producer to jump on board and take the leap of faith in producing the new malt to distilling specs.

"That initial demand has grown significantly now. Thankfully, Gladfield Malt in Canterbury took the time to understand what was needed and produced a super high-quality product that performs fantastically. It's important to us to use New Zealand malted barley because it supports local farmers and the grain is some of the best in the world anyway – so why not. And you'd expect New Zealand whisky to be made with New Zealand malt."

To that end, is there a definitive New Zealand whisky flavour?

Whitaker says whisky is like wine in as much as wine covers everything from a shiraz to sauvignon blanc and she cites Scotland as typifying the wide variations. "What does a Scotch taste like? The beauty and the interest in malt is the differences and enjoying the differences. I think it's about the character of the distillery rather than the character of the country."

But just as peat-smoked malt is a strong character of Irish and Scottish whiskies, Thomson believes the distinct flavour of manuka-smoked malt could come to define New Zealand whisky. He made his first manuka-smoked malt himself, using his Weber barbecue.

"Manuka seemed like a natural flavour profile to mess around with because just as peat is a natural fuel source in Ireland and Scotland, and is used to smoke malted barley or fuel fires, manuka wood is a fuel source we happen to use here to smoke food like fish, or to barbecue.

"In those early days I also had an inkling it would taste really good. And I thought that using what is available to us here, using our terroir and what is a natural resource would inform the flavour, and form a local style of whisky, totally unique to New Zealand.

"The spirit is warming, smoky, and savoury – like a bonfire on a beach, something all Kiwis can relate to. We're grateful to all those New Zealanders who have taken a bottle overseas, presented it to their loved ones and said 'THIS is NZ whisky, this is what we can do'. Hopefully we're contributing to a New Zealand style and helping to spread the word on New Zealand whisky."

Thomson's Manuka Smoke has won a plethora of awards including New Zealand's best whisky at 2019 NZ Whisky Awards and being named the best NZ single malt at the World Whisky Awards.

NEAT OR ON THE ROCKS?

Finally, the age old question: what is the best way to drink a whisky?

"It's down to personal taste and the best way to drink a whisky is whatever way you like it," says Thomson. "But for us, the best way to drink a whisky that is 46 per cent abv or over is with a drop of still, room temperature water. Just a touch, which opens out the flavour notes."

Whitaker takes a similar approach. "Neat, and a drop of water of the whisky requires it."

Michael Fraser Milne, of Whisky Galore and the organiser of Dramfest, rules out ice because it dulls the flavour.

"Warm it up with your hand. Often the barrier is just the sheer alcohol level. For a novice, bring the whisky up to your nose. If you get nose prickle, try a bit of water until it's gone. Sip, and if it's still too big, too hard on the throat, too much burn, put in a little bit more water and try again until you find it acceptable. Technically, it's always better to drink whisky diluted for fullness of flavour."