distillery profile
MEET DUNEDIN’S NEWEST DISTILLERY
No8 Distillery
32
restaurantandcafé.co.nz
I
n a sunny street in Dunedin sits a funky café and venue called Dog With Two Tails and in the window of Dog With Two Tails sits a shiny copper still. When the first COVID-19 lockdown hit last year, Dog With Two Tails had to close and its owners, Michael Wilson and Julien Delavoie sat at home bored and restless. They fancied the idea of setting up a still in the window of their establishment and, like that, No8 Distillery was born. No8 is the first distillery to open in Dunedin since legendary Willowbank Distillery auctioned off their last whisky barrel in 1997. But despite being new, the Kiwi distillery has a legacy that dates back over four generations, drawing upon treasured family recipes and distilling knowledge. From the success of Dog With Two Tails, Wilson and Delavoie draw on their long hospitality experience. Wilson brings his flavour extraction expertise from 15 years in coffee roasting, brewing and bean to bar chocolate manufacturing, while Delavoie draws upon his French heritage and experience making gin, calvados, and cider with his grandparents in Normandy. “I was basically breast-fed calvados,” joked Delavoi about his background. The boys’ experience is vast. Delavoi has worked as a chef/pastry chef for 18 years, including at Michelin-starred restaurants in France and has been in New Zealand for the last six years. Born in Dunedin, Wilson studied genetics at university, was a Royal Engineer in the British Army, started the first speciality coffee company in Scotland and Malaysia, and has a craft bean-to-bar chocolate operation in Kuala Lumpur. “I come from a family of distillers; I have this great picture of my grandmother scrubbing out an ageing barrel from the inside,” explained Delavoi, adding that the shiny, copper still they use is named Thérèse, after his spirits-making grandmother. “All the current liqueurs sold have been made in France for the last 20 years. The absinthe recipe that we use was developed in 1926 and is ridiculously smooth for a drop at 72% ABV. But my great love is rum, I’m excited that our first batch age will be released in August.” Wilson doesn’t drink but reckons Delavoie drinks enough for both of them. However, he loves tasting the drinks and has spent many years working with fermentation and flavours. He spends hours each week running around the mountains in Dunedin looking for leaves and flowers for Delavoie to extract flavours from. He also lived in Scotland for seven years and became fascinated with whiskey.
According to the boys, gin is a drink that can be savoured throughout the day and so needs to appeal to the different moods that we all have at different times. “We’ve gone for three distinctively different gins in order to appeal to times when we need a hug, want some inspiration, or feel it’s time to party.” Delavoie went on to explain that the quality of the botanic, the bush or three forages need to be selected carefully, to be sublimated during preparation and during distillation, like a fine dining dish. The many botanicals should address depth of flavour, body, and aftertaste, but there needs to be some flavours that stand out and make it distinct. “Well-crafted gin should set out the rules and fulfil your desires while asserting that you’re drinking something of quality.” When combining different distillates for a new drink, Delavoie and Wilson get an informal panel together to decide which combination works best. “After all, we’re making spirits for people to enjoy and the best way to work out what combinations to go for, is to get immediate feedback from drinkers,” said Delavoie. “We extract flavours from the botanicals at four points: before distillation, this can be simple
