Spirits · Pōkeno, Bombay Hills
The Pokeno Whisky Co.
New Zealand single malt from a small town south of Auckland.
- Founded
- 2017
- Founded by
- Matt Johns, Celine Johns
- Based in
- Pōkeno, Bombay Hills
Making it since
2017
Their story
Pōkeno Whisky is run by Matt Johns, who grew up in England and worked for years in the whisky trade, and his wife Celine. They set up the distillery in 2017 in Pōkeno, a small town southeast of Auckland surrounded by volcanic hills, and began distilling in 2019.
It has grown into New Zealand's largest single malt distillery. The core range includes Origin, Discovery, and Revelation, alongside single casks and experimental releases.
How it's made
Barley comes from family farms in the region and water from a spring in the nearby hills. The wash ferments for up to 80 hours before slow distillation in copper pot stills. An in-house cooperage builds and repairs casks, including some made from native New Zealand totara wood, and the warm climate speeds up maturation.
Why we carry them
We like pouring Pōkeno for anyone curious about whisky beyond Scotland and Japan. It shows how a warm climate changes the way single malt ages.
More makers like this
All makers-
10th Mountain Whiskey & Spirit Co.
Vail, Colorado
Colorado whiskey honoring the WWII ski soldiers who trained near Vail.
-
10th Street Distillery
San Jose, California
American single malt whisky, engineered in San Jose by two Silicon Valley friends.
-
1792 Distillery
Bardstown, Kentucky
Bardstown bourbon named for the year Kentucky became a state.
Find more makers like this in Provisions Club, our curated subscription.
Explore Provisions Club