In a New Zealand spirits industry first, leading West Coast business Reefton Distilling Co. has signed a multi-year contract to sell whisky to the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The Scotch Malt Whiskey Society, founded in Edinburgh in 1983, is a membership organisation that bottles and sells single-cask, single-malt whisky. It purchases individual casks from more than 150 malt whisky distilleries in Scotland and throughout the world, bottles them and retails them directly to its 40,000 members globally.
Reefton Distilling Co. is the first New Zealand distillery to be selected for inclusion in this exclusive whisky society’s offering. The agreement will see the Scotch Malt Whiskey Society purchase minimum agreed volumes of Reefton Distilling Co.’s New-Make Spirit each year for an initial three-year term.
The New Make Spirit will be matured in Scotch Malt Whiskey Society casks at their bonded warehouses in Scotland, with some also matured in Reefton, allowing a comparison of how the spirit develops at each location. Each cask will yield a limited number of bottles, which the Scotch Malt Whiskey Society will release under their own label. Each of these limited releases will be available exclusively to their members.
The first consignment of Reefton Distilling Co.’s New-Make Spirit is being prepared to leave New Zealand this month.
Reefton Distilling Co. Chief Executive Patsy Bass was brimming with pride after learning that the Scotch Malt Whiskey Society deemed Reefton Distilling Co.’s New-Make Spirit worthy of inclusion to become one of the Society’s hand-picked whiskies.
“To be selected as the first New Zealand distillery to supply New-Make Spirit to the Scotch Malt Whisky Society is a huge honour and achievement for a New Zealand distillery. It highlights the quality of the New-Make Spirit we are crafting and exporting to the world, and we look forward to developing a long-term, successful relationship with the society and its members worldwide.”
Established in 2017, Reefton Distilling Co is well known for its international award-winning Little Biddy Gin, Wild Rain Vodka and Reefton Distilling Co. Flavour Gallery Gin Series, and Liqueurs.
