Distillery's single malt claims double gold
Cardrona Distillery's single malt whisky, The Falcon, has won a double gold medal, with a score of 95 points, at the 2025 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
It is the only New Zealand whisky to achieve double gold so far this year.
The competition is the oldest and largest of its kind and is renowned for setting the industry standard of excellence.
A double gold medal is awarded only to spirits that receive unanimous gold ratings from all judges in a blind tasting, placing The Falcon among the world's top single-malt whiskies.
According to Cardrona Distillery, The Falcon has notes of burnt toffee, vanilla cream, pepper and sun-scorched nectarine.
As well as the latest award, The Falcon was awarded two gold medals in two categories at last year's World Whiskies Awards — New Zealand's best small batch single malt and New Zealand's best single malt 12 years and under. It also received a five-star review from Yvonne Lorkin and 95 points from master sommelier Cameron Douglas.
The Cardrona Distillery opened in 2015.
olivia.caldwell@alliedpress.co.nz
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
02-08-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Laser weeder on the job in Southland
A robotic weeder is the first of its kinds in New Zealand, a Southland vegetable grower says. So Sweet managing director Matthew Malcolm said he was proud to introduce a Carbon Robotics G2-200 laser weeder to New Zealand and take "a ground-breaking step forward in sustainable farming". "This precision technology uses high-resolution cameras, artificial intelligence, and laser accuracy to detect and remove weeds without disturbing the soil or crops," Mr Malcolm said. Crops grown by So Sweet were carrots, parsnips and organic potatoes. "We have been farming for five generations, but we've never believed in standing still." Since the new technology arrived about a fortnight ago, it had weeded about 2ha of organic carrots in Makarewa, north of Invercargill. "We literally turned it on, plugged the machine in, opened the computer, chose carrots as our crop and started weeding." The technology could easily decipher between a weed and a carrot. "It knows exactly what it's looking at." The robot would help replace some conventional weed control methods including applying chemicals or hand-weeding by casual staff. All casual staff would be redeployed to other jobs, such as harvesting, he said. "Which they far more enjoy. There'll be no tears shed from my uni students of not having to go do hand-weeding." Reducing herbicide-use by up to 80% was a goal set for next year, he said. The new technology cost "lots and lots". "It's a very big commitment." When hand-weeding a crop, vegetables were accidentally pulled out and chemical application could cause "suppression damage" to a vegetable crop. Consequently, the use of the new machine would increase crop yield, which would help pay back the long-term investment. "For us, this is about scaling sustainability while protecting our soil, our crops, and our people." By reducing chemical use, they hoped more people would buy their vegetables. "Our goal is to produce cheaper chemical-free food," Mr Malcolm said. The vegetables were available in supermarkets across New Zealand and a small amount was exported to Hong Kong and Singapore. His son, field manager Jesse Malcolm, was leading the day-to-day use of the new weeding technology. The laser weeder supported So Sweet's mission to grow with purpose, Jessie said. "This is more than just a machine. It reflects how we want to farm in the future."
Otago Daily Times
29-07-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Young leaders to step up: president
The election of Canterbury sharemilker Karl Dean to the national dairy chairman role for Federated Farmers will cause Bex Green to step up as North Canterbury's president. Mr Dean, 36, replaced former dairy chairman Richard McIntyre and also takes his position on the national board with Richard Dawkins, 35, replacing Toby Williams to also join the national board. Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford said the two young leaders were stepping up into significant national leadership roles. "While they may be new to our national team, they're by no means new to Federated Farmers. They've held senior leadership roles within our organisation for some time now. Karl and Richard are both highly respected and experienced farmers within their regions, and have worked their way up from the grassroots." Mr Dean was previously the North Canterbury provincial president and vice-chairman of the national dairy council. "It's also been a huge honour to work with Richard McIntyre over the past seven years on the dairy council, and his 12 years of service hasn't gone unnoticed. His leadership has helped shape a strong, positive culture, and I'm committed to carrying that legacy forward." Mr Dawkins, who farms with his wife Jess in the Waihopai Valley near Blenheim, was elected as the organisation's new national meat and wool chairman. He has previously spent five years on the national meat and wool council and two years as Marlborough's vice-president. Mrs Green said the provincial president role had been in her sights for some time and she had just been waiting for the right moment for her family and her farming business. "Dairy farming is my passion, but I'm really excited that as president I'll get to broaden my horizons and come to grips with the issues in meat, wool and arable as well." She contract milks 1000 cows with her husband Blair in Culverden and was the province's vice-president under former president Caroline Amyes. With a third child still a toddler, she stayed as vice-president and took on the province's dairy chairwoman role when Mr Dean took over as president. Mrs Green has also been elected national dairy vice-chairwoman, the position Mr Dean vacated. She was named Federated Farmers 2024 Dairy Advocate of the Year for her leadership on issues such as streamlining a path to work in the dairy sector for immigrants. She was ready to tackle challenges to farmers. "Our North Canterbury sheep and beef farmers have been under huge pressure in recent years. They've had all those existing issues impacting the sector — and then a horrific drought on top of that. With the Federated Farmers 'Save our Sheep' campaign now well under way, my hope is we can bring more local sheep farmers back into the fold and really give them a voice and a platform." With three children under 13, she still finds time for multi-sports as a former Coast to Coast competitor, winning team categories for the past two years.
Scoop
21-07-2025
- Scoop
Reefton Distilling Co. Announce Investment Offer To Grow Their Whisky Inventory
Multi Award winning West Coast business Reefton Distilling Co. have today announced a new investment opportunity for investors to secure a stake in the company. Seeking to raise additional capital as they continue to scale their Moonlight Creek whisky production, the company are looking to raise up to $2M NZD. Funds from this raise will be prioritised for further investment in their Moonlight Creek whisky inventory. Founder and Chief executive Patsy Bass commented, 'Whisky is inherently a long horizon product, and our business is ensuring appropriate investment levels until we have sufficient volumes of matured whisky ready for market.' She added, 'We see growing our whisky stocks as the biggest growth catalyst for the business and believe that our continued investment into Reefton Distilling Co.'s whisky vault lays a path forward to deliver products for the global market, which in turn underpins the value of the business as a whole.' The share offer was first released to existing shareholders, who have pre-emptive rights to participate in this investment round. With $738,000 NZD already raised, the offer has gone live to the public today (21 July 2025) via Snowball, an investment platform for private companies and funds (Invest in Reefton Distilling Co. – Snowball). Gold and Category Winner at the prestigious World Whiskies Awards (ROW) 2025 In early 2025 the distillery achieved a significant milestone with both their Moonlight Creek Manuka Smoked, Young Spirit*REF1 and Moonlight Creek New-Make Spirit*REF2, each winning Gold and Category Winner at the prestigious World Whiskies Awards (ROW) 2025. These accolades highlight Reefton Distilling Co. as one of New Zealand's most exciting new talents in whisky production and place them firmly on the list of spirits producers well positioned to benefit from the global trend of consumer's drinking higher quality alcohol. As one of New Zealand's largest independent distilleries with over 100+ global spirits & innovation awards (including 38 Gold/Double Gold/Platinum/Best in Category/Innovation/Design and Consumer's Choice Awards), Reefton Distilling Co. are internationally recognised as an innovative producer of premium spirits. The first B Corp certified whisky distillery in New Zealand, and the first New Zealand distillery to contract distil whisky for the Scots, Reefton Distilling Co. laid down their first Moonlight Creek Single Malt whisky in 2022. With their eyes firmly focused on the future, Reefton Distilling Co. have built a valuable asset base for global whisky sales with hundreds of casks already laid down, and more being added on a daily basis. Their existing whisky stocks are backed up with valuable land, buildings and plant, which are owned by the business. A business firmly established at the forefront of the New Zealand Distilling Industry Having firmly established themselves at the forefront of the New Zealand distilling industry, Reefton Distilling Co.'s core spirit ranges include Gin, Vodka and Single Malt Whisky. As the producers of one of NZ's strongest Gin brands (Little Biddy), they have a proven track record of innovation and new product development. Within 2 years of launch, Little Biddy Gin became the No. 2 Gin brand in the premium plus segment of the NZ gin market*REF3, a position which it retains today. Reefton Distilling Co.'s experienced senior management team is supported by a board with proven track records in international strategic marketing, business development and financial markets. The company has assembled a distinguished panel of international experts, each possessing extensive knowledge and discerning palates. This panel oversees and supports their product development journey, from its inception to its release. In April 2025, international expert, Scotch Whisky Maker, Polly Logan, made the trip to New Zealand to experience Reefton Distilling Co.'s whisky firsthand, she commented, 'The New Make Spirit is incredible, and the casks have been selected carefully. You can tell the care that has gone into creating the spirit, you know the moment it hits your senses. Sensational!' Only 1,000 bottles of the distillery's first ever whisky release, Moonlight Creek 'Pioneer', will be available exclusively by ballot later this year, making its way into the hands of those fortunate enough to have secured a bottle.
