Matt Johns of Pōkeno Whisky in the warehouse. Photo / Supplied
Matt Johns of Pōkeno Whisky in the warehouse. Photo / Supplied
NZME’s On The Up is a national campaign showcasing amazing stories of inspiration, success, courage and possibilities. This is the story of Pōkeno Whisky, whose team have had a busy few years since the Waikato Herald caught up with them last.
A strong, sweet and woody alcohol scentemerges as Pōkeno Whisky founder Matt Johns opens the door to the warehouse, revealing racks of full barrels, stacked all the way to the ceiling.
The majority of the barrels are former bourbon, sherry and red wine casks, however, Pōkeno Whisky also worked with a few other gems.
They had a busy year: the team made whiskies finished in a Spanish orange wine cask, in an over 100-year-old hogshead, in a former beer barrel and in a port cask.
In 2023, they also launched a special project: a New Zealand native wood cask.
The world’s first tōtara cask whisky was a success, winning gold at the International Wine and Spirit Competition, silver at the World Whiskies Awards and silver at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition all last year.
Now, they are ready to launch their second native wood whisky – a kauri single-cask.
Johns said the kauri cask almost didn’t make it to release.
“Kauri [wood] is really difficult, and not only because it’s nearly impossible to get.
“It’s very brittle and snaps and breaks and cracks.”
The team was offered the wood by a Te Kauwhata resident who’d had slabs in his shed for 30 years.
The kauri cask is eye-catching, not only due to its small size, but also because: droplets of whisky have forced themselves through staves in several parts of the barrel. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer
“Some were old and cracked, but we had enough to make two barrels.”
Tawse said making the kauri cask had “certainly been a challenge”.
“It was breaking as I was making it, but I just persevered.
“In the end, it was a bit smaller than I would have liked it to be, but I just had to say that’s good enough.”
Looking at the wall full of mostly 200-litre and 250-litre barrels in the warehouse, the 150-litre kauri cask is eye-catching, not only due to its small size: droplets of whisky have forced themselves through staves in several parts of the barrel.
Pōkeno Whisky's cooper Mike Tawse at work. Photo / Supplied
“It’s interesting on the nose, very rich and perfumy that you wouldn’t associate with whisky at all. But when we first tried it, it did have a dryness that wasn’t good,” Johns said.
“So we thought we’d leave it in there for a bit longer.”
But even after trying it again after three and six months, it was still not up to their standard, and Johns was ready to give up on it.
“We thought let’s just put it in the warehouse and forget about it.
“A year in, we randomly found it and tried it again and we thought oh wow, it’s actually good. It’s difficult to describe.
Pōkeno Whisky is specialised in single malt whisky and is only producing this kind of whisky. Photo / Pōkeno Whisky Co
“Is it the best whisky we ever made? No. But is it the most original whisky we made? Probably.”
Another special edition ready to launch soon is a full-maturation, sauvignon blanc cask in collaboration with The Hunting Lodge Winery.
“Usually we age the whisky in a bourbon cask for a few years and then finish it for a couple of months in another cask, like the orange wine cask, for example,” Johns said.
“But this whisky spent all its life in that sauvignon blanc barrel and has taken on so much more of the flavours.
“You can really smell and taste the sauvignon blanc and those lovely citrus notes.
Tawse, who is used to working with oak because that is the type of wood barrels legally have to be made of in Scotland, said it was cool to learn about different types of New Zealand native wood.
However, a recent highlight had been restoring a sherry cask that was more than 100 years old.
