Taupō MP Louise Upston recalls being the first to buy a bottle of Cambridge Distillery’s Knocknaveagh dry gin when it went on retail sale last May. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
As distilleries go, the laundry did the job, but a purpose-designed facility is a huge and significant upgrade, says the co-founder of a Cambridge gin distillery.
James Coote, who is also a Rowing NZ coach, reflected on the journey he and partner Will Rendell, a banker, have been on since they founded Cambridge Distillery Company nearly three years ago.
The families – James and Rebecca Coote and Will and Shannon Rendell – got to know each other when they all moved to Cambridge in 2018
During Covid 19 lockdown their gin project began.
The first batches were distilled in the Rendells’ laundry and then in a garage and finally a micro-distillery in Alpha Street where they opened a tasting room on the weekend.
At a launch function on Friday night, Coote recalled those early beginnings.
“From turning up many, many times in their driveway and them saying ‘James is here, again’…. we were like flatmates.”
The first bottle was undrinkable but by May 2022 they were able to put six bottles of their Knocknaveagh flagship dry gin into a Waipā wine shop and let supporters know via social media.
Knockaveagh was the farm in County Cavan, Ireland where Coote’s ancestors were from. They left to come to New Zealand in 1862 and the old farm house features on the bottles as a reminder of the paths that bring new opportunities.
Taupō MP Louise Upston, who lives just outside Cambridge, was the first purchaser noting in a post that she would “crack it open tomorrow night ….. delayed gratification”.
“I loved that it was a local story,” Upston said at the opening. She described herself as a “discerning” gin drinker who now had a good collection of Cambridge gin.
“I’m looking forward to some of the combinations profiling the local botanicals.
“I definitely bought the first bottle and I’m sure I won’t be the last.”
There are hundreds of botanicals used to flavour gin. The Cambridge gins comprise ones such as grapefruit, juniper, chamomile, cardamon, angelica, coriander, orange peel, cucumber and lemon.
The company’s first major award came last year at the Australian Gin Awards where it won a gold medal for its Knocknaveagh Black Label gin.
The enterprise is a credit to Coote’s passion for all things really food and booze, said Rendell.
“I’m just tagging along for the ride.”
Also joining them in recent times is world champion rower Jackie Kiddle who designed the logo seen on bottles, drew the botanicals used and designed an exhibition gin bottle for the Rendells.
She and Coote are heading to the Olympics in Paris later this year.
“People who have tasted (our gin) have given us honest feedback,” said Coote.
The working micro-distillery is open to the public every weekend and visitors can see production behind the scenes.
Cheers mate: James Coote, left, and Will Rendell celebrate the opening of their tasting room at the Cambridge Distillery Company’s workshop. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
