From First Seed to First Sip

When you bite into something tasty, it’s easy to work out exactly what triggers those positive chemicals in your brain.

When you sip a good whisky – you know… the one that makes you hold up your glass, look through it like you’re conjuring up something sophisticated, only to finish with the words, “mmm that’s good” – it’s hard to work out exactly why you love it.

Is it the flavour of the grain? Is it the smokiness? Is it where it was made?

The truth is, one thing we here at Auld underestimated is how many whisky lovers are out there in New Zealand, but who don’t necessarily know why they love it. 

And the problem with a traditional whisky, is that those questions are rarely answered.

Take a small distillery in Scotland for example. They use tonnes of grain a day, coming in from all over the UK.

Any differences or uniqueness that comes from a single farm is blended out simply because of volume.

Which means they can’t really answer the above questions at all.

But Auld has created something totally unique - we’re one of only a few seed-to-sip distilleries in the world. 

What does that mean?

It means we grow all of our own grain here on the farm and make the whisky in the exact same place.

It means we can trace any given whisky not just back to which grain was used, but which paddock it was grown in, what it went through during the seasons, and how it will differ from year-to-year.

And it’s not just the grain that’s homegrown.

The water we use in our whisky comes from a natural spring on the farm that is perfectly balanced and highly sought after for spirit making.

And the way we get our distinct peat and smoky flavours?

A beech forest, that was wiped out eons ago by a Tsunami, lying just feet underneath the same paddocks we use to grow the grain.

As it rises to the surface, we collect it, dry it, and burn it to infuse it into the whisky.

OK, so big deal. We grow all our own stuff. Why does that matter to a whisky drinker?

Well it means that each year, an Auld spirit could be slightly different - it will never be the same.

It will be a whisky reflection of Southland, and by the time it ages, it will act like a little time machine back to the paddock the grain was grown.

It also means we can experiment with different types of grains and see what unique flavours they impart - creating limited edition grain whiskies.

This is our advantage. 

We’re not bound by tradition. We’re bound by innovation.

When you taste or buy an Auld whisky, you are getting something totally unique. Something no one else will have tasted or bought before.

You’ll be able to pull out a bottle and say, “Lads, the grain in this whisky was sowed the same day the mighty Stags finally won the Ranfurly Shield”.

You’ll be able to drive past the Auld Distillery and point to the paddock that created the liquor you were cheers-ing with the night before.

But by far the best thing, is when you’re sitting at home sipping away on your favourite drop, you’ll know exactly why you love it.

You can join this journey with us, secure your Foundation Harvest Cask now. Get in touch to find out how.