22 | Breen Construction: Scapegrace Distillery Distillery aims at top shelf The barrel room has a 2000 barrel capacity. from page 20 DEVELOPMENT STRUCTURAL STEEL SPECIALISTS PHOENIX STEEL LIMITED PH: 03 688 7412 | Email: admin@phoenixsteel.co.nz 104 Meadows Road, Washdyke, Timaru Proud to support Breen Construction for their Structural Steel needs Est 1906 “The Earthmoving Specialists” Proud to undertake the Civil’s and Earthworks at Scapegrace with Breen Tony Smith MANAGER, HARLIWICH HOLDINGS LTD FREE PHONE: 0800 111 221 Offices in Roxburgh & Cromwell | Servicing all central Otago With Stage One complete, including the new Scapegrace head office, a bottling hall, warehouse and the first barrel room with its 2000 barrel capacity, the $25m development covering 36 hectares has three more barrel rooms planned, as well as the distillery itself. Once everything is finished all aspects of Scapegrace’s business will operate out of the 4500sqm complex including a distillery tour accompanied by a substantial food and beverage offering planned for Stage Three. In the meantime a small bar/restaurant will form part of the Barrel Long House #2, until the larger, more permanent food and beverage facility can be built, overlooking the lake at the top end of site, and connected to the distillery. “Once we’ve finished the distillery in 15 months’ time they’ll be able to distill 20 times the volume of whiskey they’re distilling in Canterbury now,” says Peter. “Instead of trucking the barrels down here to age it’ll all be on site, and they’ll be able to bottle it, along with their gin and vodka, and distribute it from here in Cromwell.” Along with the innate complexities of building a distillery Scapegrace planned from the beginning to create a world-leading distillery with sustainability at the forefront. Cheshire Architects were tasked with making this part of every decision in their design of a distillery intended to be the perfect balance of urban design meets rural setting, experiential and hospitable, and epic in both scape and scope. With their carbon footprint in mind Scapegrace made the switch from traditional fossil fuel boilers to electrode boilers which have the added benefit of being highly efficient with zero pollutant emissions. The distillery building is to be constructed from timber rather than steel, with re-purposed stainless steel tanks rather than new, as they keep their goal of becoming carbon neutral firmly in mind. Creating a property that enhances the region makes a good fit for the Scapegrace brand as it forges into new territory. Founded in 2014 by brothers-in-law Daniel Mclaughlin and Mark Neal alongside Richard Bourke, the trio pioneered the movement of New Zealand super premium spirits on the global stage. They’ve collected countless international awards since and gained acclaim for creating the world’s first black gin. For those who may not know it’s naturally black due to the unique botanicals used in its making, then changes to shades of red and purple when mixed. Their foray into whiskey is relatively new and aimed squarely at the super-premium spirits range which is their trademark. Scapegrace links its foundations to the independence and pioneer spirit of the brand, its sense of spiritual place nestled in the deep south, and its obsession with delivering enduring quality to its luxury spirits portfolio. That obsession is accompanied by a determination to give back to the community and enhance the enjoyment of all those who visit their distillery. They’re planning $150,000 of regenerative planting of native Kanuka around the site, as well as creating a walking track through the property to allow access to the historic remnants of the gold mines that first brought the region to the world’s attention. Given their track record it’s a safe bet that the world’s attention will soon also be drawn to a “New World” whiskey distilled in some of our most iconic scenery, ready to be sipped and savoured on site at the Scapegrace Distillery in Cromwell.
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