KEY POINTS:
In a world of slick viral marketing campaigns and glossy appeals to sophistication, Nelson vodka maker Warryn Bermingham is a breath of fresh air.
Bermingham makes 26000 Vodka with partner Ken Telfar - a product that is clean, pure and refreshingly free of "bullshit" marketing. The start-up distillery, which began manufacturing in a tin shed, was planning to sell 10,000 bottles this year.
Instead it has sold out in four months and is now selling in four different overseas markets.
"To be honest with you, I would have been happy if by this Christmas coming we'd have some in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin," says Bermingham.
"I would have been happy with that. That was the big plan."
He believes the New Zealand spirits industry is at the same stage as the wine industry once was, with massive potential for expansion.
And he's not just building a brand in the hope it will get snapped up for millions by some international drinks giant.
He hopes to be still making vodka and employing local people in his distillery for decades to come.
26000 Vodka is made using water that is 26,000 years old - it comes from a glacial reservoir in the Tasman region of the South Island.
But look past the stylish bottles and sophisticated appeal to those wanting pure, natural drinks, and Bermingham says the product will always be more important than the pitch. "I've got more respect for people than that. People are over bullshit," he says.
"We've all been bullshitted for so long about everything we see, look at, read hear - I'm over the bullshit of the world and marketing and all that. I know it's part of business and we have to do it, but it's sort of do as much as possible to make it bullshit free."
