Rachel Hall is the head distiller at Lighthouse Gin, a producer of authentic spirits made with local ingredients.
Lighthouse Gin is located in the Wairarapa town of Martinborough, just a short drive south of Hall’s hometown of Greytown.
Fresh from Australia, Hall’s parents moved to the area in the late 1980s with their five children, which she said caused quite a stir in the small country town at the time. Her parents ran the local pub, where it was all hands on deck for Hall and her siblings, helping out with waitressing and cleaning the guest bedrooms. She eventually moved back to Australia, only to return again a few years later upon meeting her now husband, Jason.
Her career in Distilling was a chance to happen, which ultimately created a passion that Hall didn’t know she had.
“I actually didn’t pursue it; I was just really fascinated by the process and that we could make gin here in little old Greytown. Then over time, I fell in love with Lighthouse Gin in its entirety,” said Hall.
Hall admitted to not even developing a taste for gin until later on in her life, but having a food and beverage background had served her well, as she has always been able to fall back on it should she need to.
In the beginning, Lighthouse Gin was such a small company the only way you could tell if they were operating was when the aroma of the botanicals filled the air. Hall said that the company would distil two batches a month to keep up with suppliers unless a special occasion, such as a food show, needed extra stock.
Over time, the company introduced 200ml bottles and the Hawthorn Edition, a new navy strength gin, which was an exciting launch for Hall.
“Now, I’m distilling two batches a day just to try and keep up with demand from New Zealand and export orders. We are also moving to our new home at The Runholder based at Te Kairanga Vineyard, where we have been lucky enough to get a custom-made still from CARL in Germany, which will be a real game changer in how we craft Lighthouse Gin.”
When running the distillery, Hall said that it is always better to be yourself, remember why you are doing it, and not worry about what everybody else is doing. She said that she is always looking for ways that she can improve. Hall added that there are always long days in the industry, but it is essential to back your product 200 percent and that it’s more important than having a good recipe.
Hall added that there is always something new happening in the world of Distilling and that some can come and go quickly while others linger around for a bit.
“Here at Lighthouse, we have always said that we are here to make good gin, and we’re not about keeping up with the latest trends; when we bring something new to the market, it is something that we have spent a lot of time working on to make sure is right.”
An example of this would be the new barrel-aged gin that was a five-year process to perfect, and with a brand new distillery about to be opened, there will be time to work on new gins to introduce to the pipeline.
The new facility will move Lighthouse Gin from a 200-litre copper pot still to a 700-litre column still, which is set to be a real game changer. Hall said although there is new equipment, she still won’t be cutting any corners and will put the same devotion into every batch as she does now.
