Pōkeno First Fill Casks

From New Zealand’s very own ‘World’s Best’ winners comes this incredible home-grown first-fill release, created exclusively for the Club. And while you'd normally be paying over $150 for a limited edition Pōkeno, Members got this for just $115.

New Zealand

Colour Burnt umber

Nose Dark butterscotch smothers syrupy stewed plum, toasted cinnamon and dark cherry, laced with toffee apple and marmalade.

Palate Deep and layered palate of spiced brioche French toast and tiramisu, with a long finish of velvety cherry chocolate and macerated raisin.

Overview

We’re so proud to introduce our first New Zealand whisky to the Club here in NZ, amongst the Scotch giants that have come before them. And what better distillery than Pōkeno? Awarded ‘Best In Class' and ‘World’s Best Other Single Malt’ at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (aka the Whisky Oscars), this local legend has proven it can hold its own among the best.

September’s dram was created with Pōkeno's richest casks and bottled at a lush 48.2% ABV, and the flavour alone will thaw your thaw your winter-chilled bones: layers of stewed plum and toffee apple, flurries of bright fruit with cinnamon, and swirls of dark, raisiny chocolate to finish...

Surrounded by volcanic mountains and nestled amongst the misty valleys of the Waikato region, Pōkeno was borne from whisky veteran and founder Matt Johns’ passion project of distilling locally in the style of the best Speyside Scotch. In fact, the man’s a Scotch whisky veteran who’s been in the industry for 30 years now, with ex-Glenmorangie and Tullibardine experience, and his vision has triumphed: this family-owned and operated distillery is now the largest single malt distillery in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Pōkeno First Fill Casks is an exclusive, expertly balanced marriage of four casks – ex-Sherries, ex-Bourbon and toasted, caramelised virgin oak – all first-fill for maximum effect. Non-chill filtered and no colour added, this is as local as it gets: a family-owned and operated whisky distillery using locally-sourced purified volcanic spring water and 100% New Zealand barley grown in the South Island.

Not yet a Member? Sign Up Free to the Club today to access our exclusive single malts.

THE SPECS

Price: $115.00

Age: No Age Statement (NAS)

ABV: 48.2%

Maturation: Spanish PX, Spanish Moscatel, new American oak, American oak ex-Bourbon

Ready to enjoy a world-class whisky collection?

Your free Club Membership gives access to exclusive single malts from Scotland, Ireland and the rest of the world’s best distilleries. Enjoy the unrivalled buying power of world's biggest whisky club.

Join Free Now

Pōkeno Whisky Company's History

Pōkeno Whisky Company is the passion project of Matt and Céline Johns, who founded the distillery in 2017 with a dream of putting Aotearoa New Zealand on the whisky region map and producing some of the world's best single malt. This dream has become reality; it could be said that New Zealand Whisky is becoming the new Tasmanian Whisky.

Originally from the UK, Matt's whisky career kicked off in 1999 and saw him working at a couple of Club-favourite distilleries; Tullibardine and Glenmorangie. He brought his experience to The Land of the Long White Cloud and found the perfect location for the distillery, just south of Auckland in the small town of Pōkeno. As craft distillers, Matt and the Pōkeno crew are able to focus on quality over quantity, on doing things their way, not the easy way.

Set in a warm yet often misty valley, under volcanic hills that are home to the springs from which they (as well as Pure NZ Water, which is right across the road) get their water, Pōkeno is the perfect location for a distillery.

Laureate barley is sourced from three family-owned farms in the South Island's Canterbury region. The fertile soils of these farms produce premium barley, and the Pōkeno team work closely with the farmers to ensure its ongoing quality.

Head Distiller Rohan McGowan doesn't rush anything, taking his time with a long fermentation time of 72 to 80 hours to extract everything he can from the barley, and then double distils it incredibly slowly, maximising copper contact through the process to refine the profile and ensure that only the purest spirit is taken for maturation.

The result? A front-ended, clean spirit with massive amounts of tropical fruits, and a viscous malty biscuit base.

The distillery itself is state-of-the-art, featuring four 3,000L stainless steel fermenters, a Scottish-made 4,000L wash still and 3,800L spirit still with an upwards-tilted swan neck, to help create a light and fruity whisky. Pōkeno is the largest whisky distillery in New Zealand, but even with its 100,000L per annum capacity only produces about a week's output from a typical Scottish distillery.

The spirit is laid up in ex-Bourbon casks from Jack Daniels, as well as a variety of Sherry and New Zealand red wine casks. The distillery also has the luxury of an in-house cooperage.

All of this allows Pōkeno to create single malt whisky with exceptional body and flavour; whisky that captures the pure spirit of New Zealand.