West Coast potter Chris Lewis making one of 100 limited edition ceramic jugs for the first batch of Reefton Distilling Co's The Real MacKay whisky to be distilled this year.





A new West Coast distillery due to open mid year aims to create up to 50 jobs in Reefton after raising more than $1.25m.

The Reefton Distilling Co has passed the minimum target for its current capital raising and co-founder Patsy Bass is hopeful they will hit $1.5m by the time it closes later this month.

She said many of the 122 investors to date were locals and their support would help pay for the fit out of the distillery in the former Department of Conservation building beside Reefton's i-Site visitor centre.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/FAIRFAX NZ Reefton's main street will get a boost when a distillery and tasting lounge take over the former Department of Conservation building

Initially the business would employ six people, including herself and head distiller and director Sean Whitaker, but distillery tours, guided visits to its water sources, and on-site events could eventually result in the creation of up to 50 jobs.

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Whitaker said stills would be installed by May with the first batch of spirits, a range of gin and liqueurs, underway by mid year.

"Our first whisky will be out of the barrel in 2021.

Each batch of spirits will be individually labelled so customers can trace the provenance of every ingredient from the water and grain, to barrels.

"We'll also offer whisky and bourbon customers the option to purchase their own barrel of spirits and store it for them until they deem it mature enough to bottle," Whitaker said.

Along with the distillery, the venture would feature a retail outlet and tasting lounge, with a display of more than 100 historic whisky jugs collected by Reefton residents Steffan and Nigel McKay.

Bass said that although the 69-year-old twins were not drinkers themselves, they were keen to see the distillery succeed and a limited edition of The Real MacKay whisky would be sold in pottery whisky jugs made by Black's Point potter Chris Lewis.

The pair had even designed the logo for the whisky named to honour their Scottish ancestors with the correct spelling restored, she said.

"The 'a' got dropped when they came to New Zealand."

Branding of other distillery products is inspired by local characters with Moonlight Whisky named after legendary gold prospector George Fairweather Moonlight, and the Little Biddy gin for Bridget Goodwin, a well known female gold prospector in the 1800s.