They started in a small Auckland office 11 years ago, young 30-somethings — Rogue in name; perhaps slightly rogue and cheeky in nature in that they used to walk into city bars to convince owners to give their gin a taste.
In the past decade, their empire has soared — a name change from Rogue Society to Scapegrace after an international trademark dispute and now with a stunning, $30 million architecturally designed distillery on the shores of Lake Dunstan that will next year also open its doors to the public as the latest visitor offering in Central Otago.
Where Scapegrace originally made its name in gin and then vodka, it’s now taking whiskey to the world.
And for that reason, the co-ordinates of the new distillery are precise and purposeful — 45.0194° S, 169.2153° E. On the 45th parallel — halfway between the South Pole and the equator — Scapegrace believes it has the formula to take on the likes of the Scots at their own game.
“It’s a really good climate for ageing whiskey,” says Daniel McLaughlin, who started Rogue Society-now-Scapegrace with his brother-in-law Mark Neal and friend Richard Bourke in 2014.
“You get really high temperatures in summer and really low temperatures in winter, and it creates a lot of torque between the whiskey and the casks.
“That’s kind of like interaction — wood retracting and releasing. It creates a really good profile for whiskey-making in a shorter period of time.
“If you compare it to Scotland, where it’s a consistent temperature, these highs and lows — we think — are really good for that whiskey profile.”
Located on the 45th parallel is certainly also a clever marketing ploy, but Scapegrace’s efforts have been boosted by several international awards for its whiskeys already.
Right now, it’s producing three mashes of whiskey a week — essentially three tonnes — with the capacity at the distillery to take this to 21 mashes a week in the next few years.
It’s producing single malt, blended and flavoured whiskeys, with two core “expression” whiskeys — Anthem and Vanguard.
“The main difference with Anthem is that we use manuka chips to smoke the malt. It’s like the Scottish version of peat whiskey. It kind of gives a bit of a smoky sweet profile, not quite as strong as a peat whiskey.”
Scapegrace has around 140 shareholders, with a board chaired by Graeme Lord, the former chair and managing director of Delegat Group. The original three founders are all on the board.
“It’s been busy, real busy - we’ve been running ever since,” says McLaughlin when asked about the past 11 years and the company’s modest start-up office in Richmond Rd, Ponsonby.
“You don’t have a lot of time to stop and think about it. But yeah, it’s quite surreal.”
Scapegrace has bold growth ambitions.
The distillery itself — an eye-opening attraction with its high-end infrastructure — is the obvious sign of that, but it also continues to make an ambitious play on the international scene, having just changed up its sales and distribution structure in Australia.
It is now dealing directly with retailers, and will it soon have its own sales team in place.
“One of the reasons we started the company back in 2014 was that we saw that New Zealand spirits had a place among some of the other provenances around the world to produce world-class spirits,” says McLaughlin.
“If you look back at the wine exports in the 90s — there was less than $20 million and now it’s north of $2 billion. [Similarly,] New Zealand has been really underrepresented on the world stage for spirits.”
Scapegrace now exports to about 40 markets.
McLaughlin says the company, at this stage, is focusing on its three core spirits — whiskey, gin and vodka.
“Never say never,” he says, of the potential for other spirits in future.
“You’re always looking globally at international trends. Being present in a lot of markets like the UK and the US you see them coming a little bit. We’re always looking for new ideas and and innovation.”
With the distillery operational, the company is now turning its attention to public services — starting with tastings, cellar-door sales and tours next year. After that, it plans to ramp up hospitality, offering a full-scale restaurant.
This signature property on Lake Dunstan is certainly a powerful statement on how far Scapegrace has come.
And despite various economic challenges in recent times, McLaughlin still thinks the settings are right to foster more Kiwi entrepreneurs, such as we saw with the “rogues” in 2014.
“It’s in our DNA as New Zealanders. With independence and a freethinking mindset, it’s built into us as a population. There’s definitely a big entrepreneurial flair.”
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor.