The rising star in the New Zealand craft spirit market is gin. The artisan boom has seen the number of commercial distilleries making gin go from 20 to 30 a decade ago, to 165 today, and sales are “through the roof”. Carly Gibbs spoke to four award-winning Bay of Plenty distillers, along with Kiwi spirits experts, about the burgeoning gin-dustry.
If ever there was an unlikely pairing, you could say it’s gin and endangered birds.
But the birds aren’t partial to the herby, floral sipper. Instead, they thrive from its profits.
On a 2.5-hectare property in Te Puna, near Tauranga, boutique spirit distillery Simply Pure has a “wild” point of difference.
Directors Irmengard and Michael Deinlein are German immigrants, master distillers, and passionate conservationists.
The couple, along with their son and co-director Tobi, and two founding directors Ben De Haan and Phil Clark, have donated $60,000 over eight years towards charities championing New Zealand’s biodiversity from sales of their award-winning spirits, Black Robin Rare Gin and Blue Duck Rare Vodka. Wildlife charities supported included Forest and Bird and Eastern Whio Link.
“It’s a real pleasure to support the guys on the ground,” Irmengard says of the volunteers who help the breeding pairs survive.
Their gin, which is included in the book 101 Gins to Try Before You Die by Ian Buxton, has won multiple awards, as has their vodka, and reflects Simply Pure’s environmental ethos.
“We like to tread lightly on this earth, so one of our big missions is to run the distillery as sustainably as possible,” Irmengard says.
They use recirculating cooling systems in the distillery to preserve water; eliminate plastic by having labels printed directly on to bottles; use wooden stoppers and invested in a carton crusher machine for recycling, among other steps.
Irmengard, a former insurance agent, and Michael, a timber engineer, came to New Zealand in 1981 from Bavaria and distilling spirits was a family hobby before it became a business 20 years ago with Distillerie Deinlein.
Ten years ago they developed spirits for Simply Pure and two years ago bought into the business.
Their Black Robin Rare Gin soared to its latest golden win at the 2023 International Spirits Challenge’s Tasting Awards in London earlier this year, it’s seventh international award. It received one double gold in the United States, two golds in the UK and silver medals in both the UK and the US.
The latest global accolade came as a pleasant surprise after Irmengard said, due to a counting mistake they were initially told they’d got bronze.
“They came back to us with apologies. We were just so rapt.”
“It is not that easy to produce the same quality again and again. It’s probably easier to come up with something really good the first time around, but the secret is to be able to repeat it.”
Black Robin is sipping gin that’s “mellow” in taste, with no artificial essences.
With a zingy palate of lemongrass and lime zest, the gin carries herbaceous and grassy botanicals through the mouth, leaving liquorice and star anise flavours.
“You can drink it without having to put lots of tonic or juices in it. It can stand on its own.”
The Ginaissance
The New Zealand gin industry is booming alongside a worldwide “ginaissance”.
There are now more than 165 commercial distilleries in New Zealand making gin, compared to 20 to 30 a decade ago.
Spirits New Zealand chief executive Robert Brewer, said the rise was because consumers, “who are generally drinking less”, are looking for new drinking experiences where they are prepared to pay more for a new taste experience, but will drink more slowly as a result.
The trend has been consumer-led, and drinkers are changing how and what they drink.
This, coupled with a demand for unique spirits, which are artisan in quality with local ingredients, means gin is “right in the consumer sweet spot”. There’s also been a “measurable and sustained renaissance” of the cocktail scene, which has pushed gin sales worldwide “through the roof”.
An indication of the popularity of gin can be seen in the entries into the New Zealand Spirits Awards held in Auckland in May.
Of 435 entries received, 214 were gins, with 174 coming from New Zealand distillers.
Here in the Bay of Plenty, there are multiple craft distilleries making gin, with many award wins.
Author of Guide to New Zealand Gin, and Australasian gin competition judge, George Grbich, is a “gin connoisseur” at the grand age of 24.
He tells the story of working in a bar seven or eight years ago and discovering a bottle of Simply Pure’s Black Robin Rare Gin sitting on the top shelf alongside highbrow usual suspects Tanqueray No 10, Plymouth, and Hendricks.
“At this point, I didn’t even know gin was made in New Zealand,” he says.
He now estimates he’s tried 1500 from around the world, and the difference between them can be found in our contrasting environments.
Generally speaking, Australia favours spice-heavy gins and dry bush botanicals, whereas New Zealand leans on herbs and forest-type botanicals, including native botanicals.
“And we have some of the best water sources in the world, that’s a huge bolster (to the industry).”
Bay of Plenty award-winning Clarity Distilling Company co-founders George White and Stephanie Downer describe the burgeoning distillery industry as “passionate”.
Clarity had only been in existence for six weeks when in April their first batch of commercially made dry gin won double gold at the 2023 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
A week later they won gold for their 2023 gin at the New Zealand Spirit Competition, and at the final trophy night won best London Dry gin.
Their recommendation when trying gin for the first time is to have it neat, or with a dash of tonic.
“The way gin is created is it starts with the clearest form of alcohol which is ethanol, then we add our botanicals and distil those through to give different flavour profiles,” says George.
“It’s such a versatile and creative product that a lot of beer and wine drinkers are leaning towards gin these days.”
Kiwifruit, pavlova … and gin
Samuel Richardson and Adrian Hoggard are mates who started a distillery with the ambition to make “the most creative gin in New Zealand”.
The Tauranga food technologists own Dynamic Distilling, home of Dabblers Gin, a bronze medalist in the 2023 New Zealand Spirits Awards.
The business launched late last year after Hoggard got into distilling during the Covid lockdown: “It was either that or sourdough,” Richardson says.
With their science backgrounds, they push the boundaries, and use natural infusions in their base gin such as raspberries, limes and rhubarb, so they don’t need to add flavours, colours, or sugars.
The resurgence in gin, once referred to as Mother’s Ruin, has seen it leave its “sad” reputation behind, Richardson says.
There are now upscale gin festivals, such as Gincredible in the Bay of Plenty in November, helping to promote artisans’ work.
Brothers Alex and Miles Roberson from Pāpāmoa’s Armada Spirits, say care and attention to detail mean craft spirits are different from mass-produced alcohol, and distilleries are now putting an emphasis on profiling a gin’s locality, personality and character.
The pair set up their distillery in 2015 originally focusing on vodka, then whiskey and rum, but Alex says they started to note how popular gin was becoming and created their own version of a London Dry gin, which was a bronze medalist at the 2022 New Zealand Spirit Awards; followed by a pink gin infused with Bay of Plenty boysenberries.
He says: “We’ve created a thirst to put New Zealand back on the map, for something other than kiwifruit and pavlova.”
