Southland: Moonshine and myth

Hokonui Moonshine.

Gore’s anti-prohibition whisky makers had plenty of bite, writes Eleanor Ainge Roy.

When the Mataura district introduced a liquor prohibition in 1902 Gore residents swiftly responded by setting up an illicit trade in home-brewed whisky - soon known as "Hokonui moonshine", or "Hokonui".

Entrepreneurial locals made their brew in Southland's Hokonui Hills in the dead of night, using ingredients smuggled over the district's borders, or stolen or sold on the sly from the town's brewing factory, which brewed for other districts despite the fervent prohibition fever.

The fiery Hokonui wasn't known for its refined taste or exacting distilling process - but it had a kick and did the job.

The original whisky, brewed by Scottish immigrants the McRaes, followed their family's method to the letter, but later efforts by locals keen to get their alcohol hit as quickly as possible were less successful - accidents and explosions in the hills were common, although most went unreported.

During the years of prohibition, 30 people were prosecuted for illegally distilling moonshine in the Mataura district.

Liquor restrictions still exist in Gore and alcohol is only able to be purchased from designated liquor stores (rather than the competitive offerings available at most supermarkets in New Zealand), and local pubs and alcohol outlets have to pay a licensing fee to the Mataura Licensing Trust, which directs money back into community initiatives such as sports teams, the gardening club and scholarships for school kids. In the past 13 years, the local licensing board has returned more than $14 million to the community.

"The most interesting thing about alcohol in Gore is not the restrictions, but that you can still taste and buy Hokonui whisky, more than a century after it was first brewed," said John Wyeth, general manager of the Mataura licensing trust. "The Old Hokonui is my favourite."

The story of Hokonui moonshine is superbly preserved in the Hokonui Moonshine Museum, which will take a good hour of your time showing you this blisteringly colourful tale.

Much like the Eastern Southland Gallery across the road, it is a big museum for such a small town and the quantity of historical archives and artefacts they've managed to amass is impressive, as is the range of storytelling methods on display, including original archives, audio-visual recordings and brewing equipment from the heady moonshine days.

At the end of your visit, if you can find your way out - the museum has lots of nooks and crannies, as all good museums should - you can taste a dram of Old Hokonui, made by the Southern Distillery Company, the world's southernmost distillery, who brew the whisky according to the McRaes' original recipe, as well as a local twist featuring honey and mint.

CHECKLIST

Getting there
Air New Zealand flies daily from Auckland to Invercargill, with one-way fares starting from $132.

Details
For information on Hokonui Moonshine, go to hokonuiwhiskey.com.
For events and exhibitions at the Eastern Southland Gallery, go to esgallery.co.nz.