New Zealand: New Zealand Whisky Co to begin production at Lion's Speight's Brewery

The New Zealand Whisky Co. has entered into a lease agreement with Lion NZ which will facilitate production at Dunedin’s Speight’s Brewery, Inside FMCG reported on March 9.

Works have begun at the brewery’s millhouse to support the creation of brands such as Dunedin DoubleWood, South Island Single Malt and The Oamaruvian.

“Both the whisky category, and new-world whisky in particular, are experiencing fabulous demand. We believe that by working with Speight’s to unlock the enormous potential around the Speight’s Brewery property, we can go a long way to creating more world-class whisky, and deliver a distillery destination of international acclaim,” Whisky co-founder Greg Ramsay said.

“While we also have grand plans for our new Oamaru Bondstore and Bar, which will remain a key cellar-door and maturation warehouse, it’s great to be moving the physical distilling into such a diverse large-scale property.”

The New Zealand Whisky Co. will also source some production inputs from Speight’s. Ramsay said they are currently working with Speight’s brewers to create their own wash, which is a sweet un-hopped beer that is used for distilling single malt whiskies.

“Now in its 10th year, the resurrection and ongoing expansion of New Zealand’s whisky industry is a real Kiwi success story that we don’t expect will be slowing down anytime soon. We’re incredibly proud to be hosting and supplying the New Zealand Whisky Co for this next stage of their journey,” Arron Goodwin, brewery manager at Speight’s, said.

The works in Speight’s brewery is set for completion in May and the production of the first distillation in June.

08 March, 2020