Pōkeno Whisky Company chosen for global whisky study
The Pōkeno Whisky Company has been chosen to represent Zealandia in a first-of-its-kind global scientific study into how different climates on different continents shape the maturation, chemistry and taste of whisky.
The study is examining whiskies from ‘The 8 Continent Series’, a collection that brings together eight specially commissioned single malts crafted to reflect the character of their continent. The collection follows the eight-continent model, which includes Zealandia, the largely submerged landmass that includes New Zealand, recognised by geologists as the eighth continent in 2017.
The whiskies are being analysed over six months in Brazil, by Dr Aline Bortoletto, a leading Brazilian food scientist specialising in the chemistry and sensory science of alcoholic beverages, and her team at INOVBEV in São Paulo. The line-up also includes the world’s first whisky matured in Antarctica.
Pōkeno was founded in 2017 by Matt and Celine Johns and sits in a valley in the Waikato, using barley from family farms and spring water drawn through volcanic rock. Its climate is warm, humid and subtropical. The exact details of the chosen Pōkeno Whisky Company single malt – such as its age and cask type – will be revealed in the coming months.
Also being studied is Isla Marambio, the first whisky to be matured in Antarctica. The whisky was created by La Alazana in Argentina and spent five years maturing there before spending three years maturing at Marambio Base, an Argentine research station, in temperatures that dropped to -35°C.
The collection brings together eight distilleries, each making a whisky on a different continent:
Pōkeno, New Zealand (Zealandia)
Penderyn, Wales (Europe)
Union Distillery, Brazil (South America)
La Alazana, Argentina, with the Antarctic whisky
Shelter Point, Canada (North America)
Boplaas, South Africa (Africa)
Rampur, India (Asia)
Lawrenny, Tasmania (Australia)
Over the six months, Dr Bortoletto and her team will build a detailed chemical and sensory profile of each whisky, combining chemical techniques such as gas chromatography with a trained sensory panel, then use statistical models to compare the results across all eight different climates.
Titled ‘Climate-Driven Maturation Signatures in Global Whisky: A Comparative Multi-Continental Chemical and Sensory Study’, it is the first scientific comparison of single malt whiskies matured across every continent.
The findings will be recorded in an international scientific report, expected to be presented at international food and beverage science conferences, and shared to help whisky makers understand how their own climate and environment shape the spirit they make.
