Scots to import New Zealand whisky
Gordon and MacPhail, the UK's largest independent whisky distributor, has ordered 648 bottles from the New Zealand Whisky Collection.
New Zealand’s once thriving whisky industry is hoping new exports to Scotland will mark a turning point in the re-emergence of whisky making.
Gordon and MacPhail, the UK’s largest independent whisky distributor, has ordered 648 bottles from the New Zealand Whisky Collection.
The collection is the last 400 barrels of stock from Dunedin’s former Willowbank malt distillery, which started in the 1970s before production ceased in 1997.
The stock was bought six years ago by a team of investors intent on reviving the New Zealand whisky industry.
The collection includes Dunedin doublewood, South Island single malt, and a 23-year-old cask-strength single malt, which recently won gold at the Wizards of Whisky World Whisky Awards.
The 700ml bottles could sell for up to $390.
New Zealand Whisky Company chief executive Greg Ramsay says an important export industry for New Zealand is being created.
“The New Zealand Whisky Collection is already being exported to Australia, the US, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands,” he says.
“The feedback we get from our customers is that the quality of this product is absolutely world-class.”
Harrods in London has also requested to stock the New Zealand whiskies.
Company spokeswoman Deb Preston says the export of whisky to Scotland marked a significant step in the growth of New Zealand’s industry.
“This shipment of New Zealand whisky, to the most discerning and established whisky market in the world, marks a true turning point for the whisky industry in this country.”
Whisky production was established in New Zealand by Scottish settlers in the 1830s but was stifled by prohibition and government regulation.
The company now plans to establish its own distillery to capitalise on surging world demand for craft-distilled whisky.
Hamish McNicol
Mon, 15 Oct 2012
Mon, 15 Oct 2012
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Scots to import New Zealand whisky
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