In an unexpected location of the whisky world on an island famed for its vines rather than its barley, there’s a distillery that has spent more than a decade making its own rules – and equipment.
Waiheke Whisky founder Mark Izzard (who’s also a surgeon) and his team started producing single malt on Waiheke in 2010, initially building much of the operation themselves. That approach is most obvious in the stills. The original design – displayed onsite, and the only one of its kind in the world – was developed in New Zealand and built by hand, while the latest versions were made by Scottish specialists Speyside Copper Works to the team’s specifications. Their distinctive geodesic shape is designed to maximise copper contact and reflux, producing a cleaner spirit.
“The more copper you have, the smoother your product,” says Mark. “And this has got double the surface area for the copper contact, so you end up with a much smoother whisky.”
The same DIY mentality extends to the technology running the distillery. The WW team developed their own automation system, controlling the process from temperatures and volumes to pumps and valves. The equipment might look sophisticated, he says, but much of it is decidedly Kiwi ingenuity.
“It would be a couple of million bucks to have this done, we did it for around 20 grand with some second-hand bits from eBay,” says Mark as he shows us around backstage with his production manager Richard Evatt. “It looks flash, but it’s basically just a Frankenstein!”
The willingness to experiment also spills into how the whisky is made. Waiheke’s warmer climate accelerates maturation dramatically compared with Scotland – five years, says Mark, is the sweet spot: “We call it dog years. We age about three to five times faster than Scotland. So, five years, you’re getting up to 15-year-old whisky equivalent. It gets quite oaked and quite rich and mature.”
It might all feel slightly improbable – a small distillery on a small island, designing unusual stills, and writing its own software – and the story has become even more remarkable by turning heads overseas. In 2024-2025, the distillery took home more than 10 medals, including four Golds, four Silvers, one Bronze, and Best in Category wins at both the NZ Spirits Awards and the Drammys.
The 2025 World Whisky Awards in London named Waiheke Whisky’s DYAD Peat + Port expression the Category Winner for Small Batch Single Malt (12 years & under). And at the 2025 NZ Spirits Awards, Waiheke Moss took Best Overall World Whisky, a category historically dominated by big international names.
Now, its new production capacity is allowing the brand to look beyond Australia towards markets including Japan, Germany, Ireland, Belgium and even Scotland, too.
The distillery’s home alongside The Heke has become a kind of clubhouse for their ambition: a place for tastings, events, whisky clubs and launches, as well as a working distillery. Visitors can taste everything from the core range to limited single-cask releases, while the site brings together whisky, brewing and food.
At the close of our tour, Mark pulls out the legendary World of Whiskey, a book that lists the best distilleries from around the world. Waiheke Whisky is there, towards the back, alongside New Zealand’s handful of new-wave producers.
“Here we are at the end of the world, and, fittingly, towards the back of the book,” he says proudly. “Four years ago, New Zealand wasn’t even listed.”
For more information or to purchase visit waihekewhisky.com
