Whisky Wednesdays at Hare and Copper

Whisky Wednesdays at Hare and Copper.

A catchy and pretty self-explanatory event title – What, Where, When and, to a certain extent, Why.

Hare and Copper is a delightful Eatery & Bar, located just outside Turangi at the southern end of Lake Taupo on NZ’s North Island.  Both the Eatery and Bar and its Whisky Wednesdays are the brainchilden of entrepreneurial owner, Andrew Wood and his wife Liliana.

Hare and Copper Eatery and Bar, Turangi, NZ

The name Hare and Copper initially conjured up an image of a large rabbit taking a nice warm bath in a large shiny cauldron, in the company of a selection of chopped carrots, onions and potatoes.

A nice concept, although maybe naming the kids’ pet rabbit Stuart was a little thoughtless!

But this Hare and Copper is not a recipe suggestion – at least not for rabbits.  The Hare and Copper is a species of fishing lure, used locally to invite trout to dinner.

A Hare and Copper Lure
The Hare and Copper Lure

NZ Whiskies

Three Whisky Wednesdays have been held at Hare and Copper this year, one each on the first Wednesday is July, August and September.

The first featured three NZ whiskies.

Very high interest in the event resulted in 30 attendees booking seats.

The event was sponsored by Central Otago’s Cardrona Distillery.  who generously provided their Territory Manager, Jonnie Cocks, to the event.  And they equally generously provided bottles of Cardrona Solera plus another as a door prize.  (The prize was won by Neville, who had travelled to Turangi from Havelock North especially for the event – a well worthwhile trip!)

As well as sampling the Solera, the event tasted Kiwi Spirit’s Waitui whisky from Takaka and The Spirits Workshop’s Divergence PX Sherry whisky from Christchurch.

Winner was Solera, followed closely by the Divergence.

Japanese Whiskies

August’s event was Japanese whisky focused.  Chosen drams were:

    • Nikka’s Rare Old Super, a 43% blend with a lot of colour,
    • Matsui’s Kurayoshi. An 8yo “pure malt” at 43%, and
    • Matsui’s Mizunara (Japanese Oak) cask, bottled at 48%.

The Nikka Rare Old Super is described as “an entry level premium blend” – whatever that is!  It is a good easy-drinking, simple, inoffensive blend.   It lacks a bit of character beyond the faint hints of peat and nuts.

The Kurayoshi from Matsui Shuzou is also a blend, this time made from whiskies sourced from Scottish distilleries blended with Japanese whisky and “volcanic-stone-filtered water”.  A big (and seemingly impenetrable) question is which Scottish distilleries were involved – no-one is saying!

The Mizunara is named for the Japanese oak used in the expression’s maturity.  At the end of World War II, Japan faced shortages of medicine, food and other daily necessities.   Against this backdrop, the lack of imported casks in which to age whisky was the least of the country’s problems.

However, whisky was popular with the occupational armed forces, so whisky makers had to do something.  Local distillers began to use the native oak, mizunara.

Mizunara-aged whisky is known to impart distinct sweet and spicy flavours with unique aromas reminiscent of sandalwood and incense. Coconut and vanilla are also pronounced characteristics.

The Islay Tasting

The last event for the winter season was September’s 5-dram Islay tasting.

A record 36 people turned out for this one, including Mike and his bagpipes.

Mike, with bagpipes

The dram selection was pretty much what you would expect, but with a couple of odd ones thrown in for interest and variety.

The starter was the standard Laphroaig 10 yo, 40%, 45ppm phenols (may as well get The Peat in first!).

Second was a new entry from Kilchoman – Sanaig, named after a local bay just north of the Kilchoman distillery.  I am generally a bit ambivalent about Kilchoman expressions, but this one is rather nice.

Then the old Standard, Bruichladdich Classic Laddie Scottish Barley in it’s striking turquoise tube.

Next came Ileach, which I’ve not had before.  58% abv and around 40 ppm of phenol, the genesis of Ileach is a bit obscure.  Suspicion is that it is either a teaspooned Lagavulin or Caol Ila.  Either way, it’s totally drinkable, if a little youthful.

Last was the latest Port Charlotte, PC10, 59.8% abv and 40ppm.  I vividly remember my first introduction to the PC ranges – someone gave me a glass of PC7 and the peat in it nearly blew my head off!  PC10 is not like that – a wee bit underwhelming when you’re expecting a blast!

Group scores for the evening:

    • Classic Laddie 8.75
    • PC10 8.48
    • Sanaig 7.88
    • Laphroaig 7.86
    • Ileach 7.67

Whisky Wednesdays

It’s an informative title, if a bit bland.

It really doesn’t cover the essence of the events.

It doesn’t cover the roaring fire, the bonhomie of whisky tastings, and it specially missed out the extremely critical bit of the fantastic platters and service provided by hosts, Andrew & Lili.

Whisky Wednesdays are sadly parked now for the summer months.  But look forward to them resuming again next winter!  I’ll be queuing up to be there!

The Bagpipes

I have always liked the skirl of bagpipes.

I used to sit on a summer Sunday in Wellington’s Botanical Gardens and listen for as long as my parents would let me.

For future reference, hearing the bagpipes played outdoors on a hillside is one thing.  Having them played indoors and a metre from your ear is a whole other matter entirely.

By quite a few decibels!

Slainte mhath

John

 

A Closer Look at New Zealand Distilleries – Kiwi Spirit Distillery, Takaka

In my last post  I looked at the disturbances that the last 18 months is likely to have on NZ whisky stocks. As a part of that discussion, I considered there was a great opportunity for New Zealand distilleries to fill probable gaps in the supply line. This article on Waitui Whiskey is the first of a proposed series focussing on local NZ distilleries and whiskies. Who are the distilleries?  What are they doing?  And what is the product like? There is only one way to find out.  Talk to them, sample their wares and report back.   I will look at some of their production details and at the whiskies they are producing.  Then I will give you my tasting notes and opinion on the results. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it!

Kiwi Spirit Distillery

The first distillery is the Kiwi Spirit Distillery in Takaka in the very beautiful Golden Bay at the top of the South Island. The company is a family owned and operated distillery, specialising in unique spirits handcrafted from homegrown ingredients. Almost all Kiwi Spirit Distillery’s ingredients come from the local region.   The water is drawn from one of the aquifers that feed Te Waikoropupū Springs (the Pupu Springs) just out of Takaka.  The malt is from the South Island, but Kiwi Spirits is looking to get their supply more locally. The distillery produces a wide range of spirits – Tequila, two gins (Championz and Greenstone), three liqueurs, Honey Mead (of which more later), and two vodkas.

If you put the cork back in and leave it for 24 hours to absorb the little bit of extra air that has been allowed into the bottle, you get a whole different experience!

But the focus of our interest is, or course, Waitui Whiskey. Waitui Whiskey is a unique New Zealand single malt that commenced production in 2002.  The small batch output is one of only a few true honey malt whiskeys produced in the world today. With no malt blends or other additives, the whisky spends eight years maturing in 200 litre barrels previously housing manuka honey mead. The current production levels are in the process of being increased to 2000 litres, thanks to some new equipment on its way.  The refining still is a very lovely looking Arnold Holstein unit, with a large ogee to encourage reflux and a level Lyne arm.

Arnold Holstein Still
The Product

I purchased a bottle of Waitui Honey Mead matured whiskey to try.  Although not as expensive as some other NZ drams, it did push my purchase tipping point a bit. The bottle details are:

Waitui Single Malt Manuka Honey.  Natural Colour, Manuka Honey Mead Oak Casks.  Distilled 17 Mar 2012, bottled 2 June 2020, bottle 68 from cask 91.

Waitui Honey Mead Whiskey
An interesting point …

Sometimes when you open a new bottle of whisky the first dram is not as good as it is going to get.  Put the cork back in and leave it for 24 hours to absorb the little bit of extra air that has been allowed into the bottle and you get a whole different experience! So let it be with Waitui Honey Mead Whiskey. My first dram was a bit underwhelming. The colour was a lovely dark mahogany.  But, against that, my tasting notes show a slightly sour nose, with honey and a sugar sack.  The palette was not as sweet as I would have hoped either, and I felt it could have benefited from being bottled at a slightly higher abv – maybe around 46%.  I scored that first dram at 7.4, a mark that I was a bit disappointed with. I put the cork back in, hoping that things would improve with the benefit of a bit of increased air in the mix.

Fast forward 24 hours and we have a whole new ball game!

Nose: Mixed fruit with spice for a fruitcake.  There is a slight metallic/coppery note in the background, cinnamon & dark chocolate with honey, wood and old varnish. Palette: A lot of sweetness, tongue heat and a slight fizz.  Mouth-filling (despite the lower abv), metallic again but at a very low level, Madeira fruit cake and cinnamon. Finish: Way longer than the previous evening.  A very lovely oily residue, with no drying tannic notes. Comment: An exceedingly attractive dram indeed.  The added air in the bottle has made a tremendous difference and created a whole new whisky!  I doubt that one bottle is going to be enough! Score: 8.5 Summary:  Kiwi Spirit Distillery and Waitui Honey Mead Whiskey is the second direct contact I have had with a New Zealand distillery and its product. Over the years there have been some fairly dire NZ whiskies unleashed on our citizenry, but if this Waitui dram is where NZ whiskies are headed our outlook for local whiskies is going to be brilliant! I think that NZ whiskies will very capably hold their head up in any marketplace, and I am greatly looking forward to our future. Slainte FootnoteThis article has not been sponsored by Waitui 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 staff at the distillery who have been most generous with their time and information, and happy to answer some quite nosey questions. John