Distillery pays homage to Bluff ’s maritime legacy
Bluff’s old freezing works is now home to a new gin distillery inspired by the maritime legacy of the region.
The founders of Bluff Distillery Company celebrated the end of an almost four-year journey towards perfecting their London Dry gin on Friday at the distillery’s base in Ocean Beach, welcoming in a new era for the white spirit in the south.
More than 80 people gathered to witness the official opening of the brand, with Tā Tīpene O’Regan (Ngāi Tahu) blessing the celebration.
Inspired by the town’s rich maritime history and the spirit of its people, some of the company’s co-founders Chris Fraser, Dave Nash and Blair Wolfgram presented a drop that they said was “clean, bold and unapologetically authentic”.
What started as a conversation between a few people around a table had finally come to fruition as the many partners of the new drop, Bluff Gin, including Hokonui Rūnaka, celebrated with a sip – or a few – of their concoction, Fraser said.
“Saying you’re going to make it is one thing, but turning it around is another,” he said.
Fraser said there were more than 100 different botanicals that could be used to create a London Dry-style gin.
“We’ve made a London Dry that’s juniper forward, which is a classic style, but is also nice and fresh and clean with hints of citrus.”
He considered it a classic drop appropriate for the most fancy and casual of occasions, but it’s the bottle that’s the showstopper.
The founders focused in on the region’s connection to the moana when designing the liquor’s host.
Nash, the brand’s director, said the blue glass bottle represented glass buoys that were used during whaling – as well as the hardiness of “Bluffys“.
“The Japanese developed the glass buoy technology and would lay their whaling nets off the coast of Bluff,” he said.
“Bluffies would head out in all sorts of conditions, lop off the glass buoys, and let these nets drop to the ocean floor.
“They were then displayed from masts of yachts and hung from front doors as a warning. No-one messes with Bluff.”
The drop will be launched online in the coming weeks and was hoped to be on the shelves of national distributors soon.
But while only the gin will be for sale for now, Fraser hoped a restaurant would be on the cards for lovers of gin and kaimoana to enjoy the very best of southern delicacies in the future.