The Chronicle Q&A: Aaron Chadwick on Jonah Lomu, Japanese surf breaks and building a gin company

Aaron Chadwick says Castlecliff is an underrated part of Whanganui. Photo / Bevan Conley

Aaron Chadwick was born and raised in Whanganui and is the co-founder and co-owner of Tahu Gin, New Zealand’s first Māori-owned gin company.

What is Whanganui’s best-kept secret?

If we’re being general, I would say Castlecliff. You’ve got sea views, you’ve got surf and a cool little vibe. It reminds me a little bit of that Raglan feel. My nana and koro used to live on Cornfoot St, and I would bike out to see them as a kid. I moved out here myself five or six years ago.

What is your proudest achievement with Tahu?

Just getting a product out there. Having an idea and making it happen has been our biggest achievement. We’re nowhere near “there” yet, but physically holding a bottle, that’s been the biggest thing. There are lots of little battles you face along the way.

What is your advice to others trying to get into the distilling game?

The hardest part is just backing yourself. You’re putting your neck on the line. It’s more of a mental thing, I think, but if you stick at it, people start recognising you and the guy from the newspaper starts calling you up.

How has Whanganui changed from when you were young?

I like that it hasn’t grown too big and it’s kind of the same, but there seem to be a lot more people coming through with a bit more of an open mind in terms of te ao Māori, but also our rainbow community and our arts. Those were under a couple of layers of the community, but now it’s out there and people are talking about them.

What is a secret talent you have that nobody knows about?

I don’t have many talents, so this should be easy. I can drop-kick a rugby ball from around my back - there you go. It never goes very far and never goes over the goalposts, but the ball does get kicked somehow.

In a perfect world, how would you like to see Tahu in 10 years?

I would like to see it at a place where we are putting Whanganui on the map internationally. I don’t look too far ahead though, eh - I wake up in the morning and think, ‘What am I meant to be doing today?’ If we’ve got a little Tahu bar downtown and we’ve got a product overseas that’s helping to promote the district, that would be awesome.

You’ve got a long history with the Marist rugby club in Whanganui. Who is your favourite player?

That would have to be Jonah [Lomu]. What a dude. I had the pleasure of training against him here in Whanganui, which was awesome. He pushed me off like I was a fly. I had a bit of a reputation for cutting people in half; they used to call me ‘the samurai’. Everyone said “Samurai will get him”, but nah, no way. Jonah was an amazing guy, and it was humbling to be around him.

If you could bring on anyone from history on board as a partner in Tahu, who would they be?

My business partner Rob [Duthie] and I both lost our mums, and it would be amazing if they were around to see this. That would be really cool.

Who would play you in an Aaron Chadwick biopic?

I always wanted to meet Bob Marley, so can we bring him back to life to play me? Accent and all. If I have to choose a living person, I’ll go with Taika Waititi because he’s given us [Tahu] a bit of support and positive korero around what we’re doing. I think he’s handsome enough to play me, just.

If you were banished from Whanganui forever, where would you want to live?

I would probably go back to Shikoku Island in Japan where I was a teacher for four years. I lived in a little fishing village and taught in five different schools. There were a whole bunch of surf breaks within 10 minutes of my house. That coastline is breathtaking.