The Spirits Workshop Archives

From Pat

An interesting and informed motto:
“Don’t make Whisky to get rich in New Zealand, do it for love”

When in Rome, do what the Romans do.

Now, Romans may be in short supply in Christchurch, but a smart pastime for whisky lovers is to book a tour of the local distillery. Just out of the Christchurch CBD is The Spirits Workshop, the home of Curiosity Gin and (more importantly) of Divergence Whisky.

As we were brought up on the Boy Scout manual, we had prepared for the Monday afternoon after Dramfest by booking ourselves a distillery tour.

We had deliberately decided against the idea of a Monday morning tour.

This booking was a two-pronged process. We thought it would be kind to let the good people from Spirits Workshop get back to earth from their tough weekend of revelry at Te Pae. On a more personal level, we thought to let the revelers from the same weekend get back to some semblance of order and cohesion.

Note to self: On a smartphone’s Google Maps it looks just a short and simple pleasure stroll through the shops and attractions to The Spirits Workshop. The reality is actually long enough for an Uber ride.

Getting there is half the fun

The walk from our hotel was about four lengthy blocks south, through a largely commercial area with precious few redeeming scenic attractions. We trekked (later becoming “trudged”) along a very busy multi-lane street, across three very busy multi-lane pedestrian crossings and over a very busy multi-lane bridge.

We finally made it to the distillery, located in an anonymous commercial building off Durham Street. No big, bold Islay distillery lettering – the only clue that we had found the right place was the pretty Curiosity logo in gold on the building’s gable end.

Our little party was warmly invited in by Founder, Chief Gin Officer and Managing Director, Antony Michalik.

The Presentation

Not counting Antony, there are six of us sitting around sitting around a large, very solid and imposing board table: four dedicated whisky drinkers, two dedicated gin drinkers and a couple who could swing either way depending on what was being offered.

Antony started his wide-ranging presentation on the development of Curiosity gin and Divergence whisky with a slide show. He covered the history of first setting up the Spirits Workshop, the owners’ previous incarnations and experience, and starting to make distilled spirits. As the presentation progresses, he hands everyone a sample of all of Curiosity’s range of gins – Classic, Ruby, Dry, Pinot Barrel Sloe, Recipe #23 and Negroni. My personal favourite is the Classic, but as with any group we all have different choices.

Walking around

We started on a guided walk around the distillery, beginning at the still room with its lovely polished copper bits. The stills, all bought from China, appear to be very good quality.

But the most exciting room for me was the barrel-aging room, containing a selection of very small barrels which are aging for private owners. There are custom engraved casks with capacities ranging from about 10 litres up.

I oddly found myself wanting to be very quiet in this room – it looked like a nursery with rows of babies sleeping. Just beautiful!

As we were the only people in the distillery we took our time on the tour.

The Whiskies

Walking finished, it was back to the boardroom and the unleashing of Divergence whiskies on this over-eager audience.

First dram up is the Virgin French Oak, the stock distillery expression. This is followed by the latest edition of Port Wood (matured in Tawney Port barrels) and then FIVE (Spirits Workshop’s capitals, not a misprint)

Then Antony brought out his Big Gun, his last bottle of Pinot Noir Finish. This expression officially sold out ages ago. The Pinot Noir Finish is fantastic stuff, and Antony politely declined my asking really nicely if I could buy the open bottle: so now I’m left to look forward to a new bottling being released some time in the future.

Antony also mentioned that they also make an Absinthe as well – at about 70% abv. They haven’t yet sold very many as they didn’t know quite how to market it. He offered us each a small nip to try – a tiny sip nearly blew my eye balls out! One of us was so excited and loved it so much that he bought a bottle.

After a lot of semi-informed questions from the tourists and a lot of very informed answers from the Director, the tour drew to a reluctant close. With formalities completed, we all bought a bottle or two to take away or be delivered by courier.

I can totally recommend taking a visit to The Spirits Workshop. We couldn’t have wished for a better host who made us all feel very welcome, answered all our pesky questions as whisky fans are bound to ask and left us in high spirits.

Contact The Spirits Workshop for to arrange your own tour, please click here.

Note: Since this article was written, both the Divergence FIVE and the Virgin French Oak have been awarded gold at the NZ Spirit Awards 2023.

Some Random Tastings

Inchmurran Highland Single Malt

Sample from Pat

Distiller: Loch Lomond
46% ABV. NAS, NC2

Colour: Gold.
Eye: Good viscosity
Nose: Sherry, oranges, Vanilla, Old leather boots
Palette: Smooth, Soft. Black Jellybeans. Oloroso sherry? Sawdust (oak). Not much heat.
Finish: Smooth
Comment: A quaffer. Right up with the standard we’ve come to expect from Loch Lomond. I would definitely have one.
Length: S/M
Score: 8.3

The Dalmore

12 year old, 40% ABV.

Colour: Dark
Eye: Medium viscosity. The legs seem a bit weak.
Nose: Sherry.; Slight nose prickle. Citrus Juice.
Palette: Hot tip and centre of tongue. Tannic-y. Sour. Well integrated, Golden Syrup/Treacle. Soft
Finish: Sweetness stays for the duration. Very slight smoke.
Comment: Other than the bald 12 yo note on the label, there is very little info on casks or maturation etc, and the dram is almost anonymous.
Length: M+
Score: 8.2

SMWS 16.54 (Glenturret)

Age: 10 year old
Sample from Ian

Colour: mid-gold
Eye: Medium viscosity, wide legs
Nose: Strong, wood, high nose prickle. Rum & Raisin ice cream, oak sawdust, slightly “dirty” aroma, back of the nose hit of alcohol
Palate: Sweet marine. Hot tongue! Sharp at first. Rich and hot. Very nice.
Finish: Long & spicy. Yummy, want to take another sip (moreish). Slight smoky (a bonfire breath – interesting that there has not been a hint of smoke anywhere else before this!
Comment: Nice!
Length: long
Score: 8.6

Cotswald Reserve

50% abv, NC2

Barrels: First fill ex-Bourbon, NC2
Nose: Prickle, Red Wine on nose, honey, butterscotch, bit of vanilla. Promising!
Palate: Smooth and HOT! Wow Factor right through. Tongue Heat, and then drying. Coconut. Dark caramel. Promise kept.
Finish: Tongue slightly drying, but not a problem.
Length: Medium/long
Comment: Wow Factor! Would get a bottle (around $110
Score: 8.2 – 8.5

Disclaimer:
All writings on rantwhisky.com are the work of Real People.
No AI has been used.

Bet you couldn’t have guessed that!

Don’t worry about the state of whisky in New Zealand.

True that our “traditional” Scottish-sourced sauce may be a bit harder to come by while the world recovers.

But sometimes when you go digging, you hit a gold seam. And that seems a good view of the distillery featured in this article.

The Spirits Workshop

The Spirits Workshop began in late 2015 when four whisky lovers got together and bought a small still, curious to develop distinctly New Zealand spirits.

The company describes itself as ”a small batch, craft distillery” in Christchurch, New Zealand. Canterbury grain is used to make a range of spirits that include quality single malt whiskies, gins and other spirits.

Researching and talking to the company, I have been extremely impressed with what they do and where they look to be headed!

The Spirits Workshop’s whisky brand name is Divergence. I recommend that you note that name – I confidently predict it will become a big player the next few years. And that opinion is reinforced when I look at the mouth-watering expressions they have in the pipeline.

The Process

The whisky spirit is double-distilled in a 500 litre copper pot still with a horizontal lyne arm and a copper shell and tube condenser.

Divergence Pot Still — The Spirits Distillery Post Still & Condensers

The company currently forecasts capacity to make 8,500 litres of barrel-strength new make annually, operating a single shift, five days a week.

The recently drawn NZ Whisky Guidelines and Definitions have set a two year maturation minimum for NZ Single Malt Whisky. However, the distillery has opted for a minimum three year period for their range. And it looks as if some upcoming production may be held in barrels for longer than that.

Other single cask options include aging in ex bourbon casks, ex Australian and Spanish sherry casks, and ex Portuguese Tawny Port casks

The mainstay whisky is a multi Gold Medal award winning New Zealand Single Malt expression. It is double pot stilled, fully matured for 3 ½ years in 50 and 100 litre virgin French Oak casks, and bottled at 46% abv.

I purchased a bottle of this delightful dram – strictly for research purposes, you understand!

My tasting notes are:

Visual: Orange amber, with good legs.
Nose: Sweet and aromatic, soft poached pip fruit (nashi pears?), a light-weight dark chocolate, musty.
Palette: Tongue heat feels a bit harsh at first then quickly mellows out to sweetness. Well integrated and balanced. Oaky wood comes through.
Finish: Tannic drying, and the oak wood remanis.
Comment: Good, at the first glass from the bottle. But this whisky, like a lot of others, benefits from a bit of breathing.
Score: My initial first dram score was 7.5, but improved to 8.5/8.6 a few breaths of air later.

At the time of writing, the distillery also had stock of their Port Wood expression. This expression is a 46.3% abv, matured in a 100 litre ex-South Australian Tawny Port barrel.

What to look forward to

Company Managing Director, Antony Michalik, says “Our next bottling will be another single cask, cask strength, release of the Sloe Gin Barrel Finished. This time finished in the Sloe Gin barrels for more than 12 months.

“We also have ex NZ Pinot Noir barrels both finishing whisky (which should be ready for bottling in the next 6 – 12 months) and fully aging whisky (which will be at least 2 years away).”

Also in the mix are ex New Zealand Port barrels both finishing and fully aging whisky at the moment. There is a further range of other single cask options aging in ex bourbon casks, ex Australian and Spanish sherry casks, ex Portuguese Tawny Port casks – some of which may be ready for release in the next couple of years and some of which the distillery may choose to age for longer periods.

I am so looking forward to trying these!

Manuka Experiments

The company is determined to put as much “Kiwi-ness” into their product as possible.

Antony talked about some experimenting they had done using native manuka wood to create a more NZ flavour.

“Unfortunately we can’t make barrels from manuka but we have experimented with using charred and toasted manuka chunks. The results have been very pleasant and promising of a potential truly NZ flavour profile.”

“However, the newly developed … rules for NZ Whisky do not allow for the addition of free-floating wood in aging New Zealand Single Malt Whisky so we have to find another way to introduce the Manuka wood contact, which we are working on”, said Antony.

The Spirits Workshop distillery is situated a short walk from the centre of Christchurch CBD, open for tours and tastings Monday to Saturday.

As well as the distillery itself, they also have a small cocktail bar at the Riverside Market right in the CBD where you can enjoy their whiskies as individual drams, in a flight of up to three current expressions or in delicious cocktails.

I’ll see you there!

PS:

As I mentioned earlier, The Spirits Distillery make a range of gins under the Curiosity label. They use the same pot still but with a different lyne arm and a stainless steel condenser. There is also a 20-plate copper column used to refine barley malt spirit for the base spirit of two of the Curiosity gins.

I recommend trying the Curiosity Pinot Barrel Sloe.

This gin liqueur is something else! Taken straight without additives, it is the most delightful Christmas Cake like your grandmother used to make.

And that is why I’m hanging out for the Pinot Noir Divergence whisky!

Footnote: This article has not been sponsored by The Spirits Workshop in any way – the opinions and views expressed are entirely my own. However, I would like to acknowledge the support and assistance provided to me by the distillery. They have been most generous with their time and information, and happy to answer some quite nosey questions.

John

Tag: The Spirits Workshop

Dramfest – Chapter 3 – The Monday After