Whisky distilling was born in New Zealand with the arrival of Scottish settlers in Otago during the 1830’s.The industry flourished until government regulations shut it down in the 1870’s. In the 1960’s the distilling industry re-emerged and in 1974 the Wilson’s Distillery at Willowbank in Dunedin was opened – producing popular whiskies like Wilsons, 45 South and Lammerlaw.
However in 1997 Wilson’s distillery was closed down by Fosters, the owner at the time, and hundreds of barrels of Cask Strength whisky were auctioned. W & D Preston purchased a large amount of the whisky which was transferred to Ōamaru.
Realising the value of these exceptionally rare drams, The New Zealand Whisky Collection was founded in 2010 and the company bought the remaining 500 barrels of this high-quality spirit from the Prestons. Since then the whisky has been residing at our seaside bonded store in Ōamaru where it is bottled and labelled under our own brand “The New Zealand Whisky Collection”.
Our intention has always been to re-start whisky production in Otago. The dream finally came true in 2019, when our new distillery was installed in Speight’s Brewery in Dunedin. Production started in February 2021 and the sweet spirit is flowing in the city once again. History has been revived and we are proud to be building the future of New Zealand Whisky.