Since meat is making a big comeback, I figured these two pieces of news would be of interest to our readers.
First up is a unique method of cooking meat. Given how difficult it is to control the cooking in a pan or oven (slow cook) I don’t think I’d be interested in adding other factors that seem even less controllable.
On the whisky front I recently received the following email from a guy who works as a hunting guide but has a new job:
I have been employed full time as the New Zealand sales manager for the New Zealand Whisky Collection (NZWC) so my guiding has taken a bit of a back seat.
I’ll just give you a brief bit of info on NZWC, a long story short but they purchased a lot of the original ‘Wilson’s Whisky’ from Dunedin and they have a fair bit of very old aged Whisky. Infact outside of Scotland, Ireland and Japan we are the only other country in the world to have aged Whisky.
NZWC are based in Oamaru where all their product is stored and we are now producing our own Whisky in the Speights building in Dunedin since 2019. We have some excellent new Whiskies that a recent Scottish lady, who worked for Glenfiddich could not believe were only 4yr old Whiskies and commented they are as good as any Scottish 15yr old or better.
I’d heard about this outfit a few years ago because after buying various assets belonging to New Zealand’s last whisky distillery (closed in 1997) they’d discovered several hundred barrels sitting in an airplane hangar, having gracefully aged after being lost from the inventory system.
The rest of the email is about offers for the Hunting Guides membership but you can get an idea of the prices from the following:
The first was a 30yr old New Zealand made Whisky which came from the original Wilson’s and was stamped as Otago Whisky. Currently these sell for $599 per bottle but could offer to our members at $499 per bottle plus GST. It is a very good Whisky and clients are amazed when you offer a NZ made 30yr old.
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I see this as a great opportunity to get our New Zealand made product into our international clients and showcase another of New Zealand’s gems. So far all the clients I have had that have tried it, can’t believe it has been made here in NZ. It sells itself.
Here’s The New Zealand Whiskey Collection website but I’ve also uploaded a PDF of the product list for you to salivate over. Having recently been the recipient of not one, but two bottles of Johnny Walker Blue Label (which I’ve never tasted in my life), I feel I now have no excuse for not spending some serious money of my own to grab a piece of NZ history.
No Minister 