Vaughan Campbell's distilling journey began at the age of 18. Photo / Bevan Conley
Bespoke distilling is gaining traction in Whanganui, with gin and vodka leading the way onto menus across the country.
Vaughan Campbell is a mechanic and engine builder by day but nearly every other waking moment over the last two years has been spent getting Good Bones Distillery off the ground.
His first run of unfiltered premium vodka is now ready to go.
"Literally what you're tasting is coming off the still.
"I use grain as the enzymes to convert the carbohydrates to sugar, then yeast converts the sugar to alcohol.
"From there it goes straight into the still and the process starts. It's around two weeks from raw ingredients to the product in a bottle."
The ethos behind the business is sustainability and re-use, with chocolate cake offcuts from A Little Sugar bakery being an ingredient in Campbell's first batch.
A lot of his equipment is repurposed too, right down to the wax seals on the bottles that are made with a leg waxing machine.
"That way we have no single-use plastic. You can even send the wax back to me and I can reuse it," Campbell said.
"My boiler actually comes from a candy factory in Pahiatua so we're reutilising stuff that was built in 1978."
One company already making a splash is Tahu Gin, which officially launched from a Castlecliff garage last December.
As well as a premium gin, Tahu also makes a mixer that combines mānuka honey, lemon and lime.
Co-owner Aaron Chadwick said the company's aim wasn't to make it en masse.
"We've had to sacrifice a lot of potential sales because we're very values-driven, but if we relax those values then we aren't Tahu any more, you know?
"People know we are authentic."
The biggest accomplishment to date was having Tahu in duty free stores at Auckland Airport, Chadwick said.
It's now the most popular New Zealand gin there, in terms of bottles sold.
"That's huge for us and for Whanganui, because in a normal, given year there are 10 million people walking past the shop where our product is available."
Chadwick said it was great that others were getting involved in the sector locally.
There wasn't any competition, and everyone was in a different area of the market.
"What Vaughan is doing is outstanding, and the same with Papaiti Gin. It all benefits Whanganui.
"There are places like LADS [Brewing Company] as well. We are becoming a bit of a hub which is really cool."
Campbell has set up shop in the LADS facility and uses some of its equipment as well as his own large still.
A different batch of Good Bones vodka was made from LADS beer that was past its use-by date.
"Nobody wants to tip beer down the drain," Campbell said.
"I really wouldn't be able to do this without LADS. They have been a massive help along the way."
Campbell is a member of the advocacy organisation Distilled Spirits Aotearoa (DSA).
Chairman Richard Wilson said "enthusiast" wasn't a strong enough word to describe his members.
"These are real distilling geeks who have persevered through a lot of failing to get something on the market."
Membership falls into three categories - pre-commercial distillers, full distillers (already on the market) and associate members such as bottle suppliers and botanical growers.
"Our number of distillers has almost doubled every year for the past three years," Wilson said.
"At the moment the trend is gin and it will stay gin for a good wee while. That's worldwide, not just a New Zealand trend.
"Subjectively, it is a lot easier to make than whiskey or anything that involves the fermentation process, and it's super popular."
Another DSA member is Papaiti Gin, an Upokongaro-based company founded by Whanganui couple Adrian Rumney and Nikki Oesterle.
"Nikki did an entrepreneurial course and one of the key messages of that was talking about dreams and plans but saying 'now is not the right time'," Rumney said.
"If you do that, quite often you never get around to it and end up regretting it."
The couple got around to it in a big way and, a year after having the idea, their premium gin was officially launched.
Papaiti Gin now distributes to licensed bars, restaurants and bottle stores nationally.
"Local support has been incredible at the Rutland Arms, Frank Bar and Liquorland," Rumney said.
"There have been really good sales from people who are interested in our story and the progress."
Rumney said the distilling process itself was fairly simple.
"We've got a little five-litre copper column still and the principle of distillation through that is exactly the same as the 100-litre still and eventually the 300-litre that we're putting in as well.
"The real trick to it is the recipe development."
Papaiti currently has two gins on the market - Orchard and Whanganui Dry.
"Orchard is our signature, and that flavour profile incorporates kawakawa and pear," Rumney said.
"The pear is quite personal for us because we've got 400 pear trees on our property. From next summer, 100 per cent of the pears in it will be ours."
Seventy-eight percent of distilleries with DSA are less than seven years old and 54 per cent opened within the last five.
Becoming a customs-controlled area was a process that distillers needed to undertake to become commercial but that wasn't "overly onerous", Wilson said.
The hardest part was completing "National Programme 3" through a local council, which sets the food safety rules for medium to higher-risk businesses.
"Is your area fit for consumable products?" Wilson said.
"It's not insurmountable, and you can do that out of your garage.
"That's where the scale starts. It goes right up to our biggest distilleries."
Rumney said raising the profile of Whanganui-made beers and spirits would give people another reason to visit.
"Hopefully at some point in the future, there is a tour you can jump on and spend half a day travelling around these different places, trying different things, and hearing different stories.
"There are open communication channels between ourselves, Vaughan and Aaron.
"Everyone is willing to share their experiences and help each other along the way."
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