Desiree Reid, Cardrona Distillery, New Zealand

Knock Tales Whisky Podcast with Gordon Bruce

What difference does an extreme distillery location make to a finished bottle of whisky? That’s the topic that Gordon gets into with his special guest in this episode: the inspiring Desiree Reid, founder of Cardrona Distillery which she built from scratch in New Zealand’s remote Southern Alps.

A former farmer, Desiree chats to Gordon about following her long held dream to make whisky in the spectacular Cardrona Valley, and the behind the scenes story of how she got there. From a memorable tour of Scotland’s distilleries on her 21st birthday to the many building blocks needed to turn her distillery dream into reality: from touring the world to find mentors to rebuilding a lost industry in New Zealand; and paying tribute to her supportive parents by laying the first casks on her mother’s birthday.

In Desiree’s view, location is indeed everything. Being over 600 metres above sea level has an impact on the production process, from the boiling point of alcohol to the speed of each cask’s maturation. But just like the quiet village of Knock in Gordon’s Aberdeenshire home, Desiree’s beautiful and unique mountain location also brings the magic – along with the glacial water, local ingredients and skilled team to create a very distinctive, modern whisky.

Amidst plenty of laughs and revelations, Gordon and Desiree round off the episode with a wee dram of their respective whiskies, toasting to the craft of making great whisky wherever you are in the world.