New Zealand's rum revolution has been rumbling with growing momentum from the top of the North Island to the South. Finally, a gold-medal winning spirit is catapulted to the spotlight from Te Atatū.
Towards the end of 2023, I headed out to Te Atatū, on the cusp of West Auckland, to visit the relatively understated and industrial home of some of New Zealand’s best rum. I’ve been waiting to tell you about it ever since. I found a rustic shed, a curious band of ex-navy sailors, engineers and marketing heads who all enjoy a decent tipple, along with a couple of roaming Bengal cats. Colour me intrigued, because I had found the literal last light of the city, shining on New Zealand’s newest and exciting rum distillery.
More Good is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
For the second year in a row, a truly stunning spirit of unknown origin had appeared in my judging flights across the New Zealand Spirits Awards and The Rumbles. This time there was a brand and a name I recognised behind the entry. After the judging was done, I immediately went searching for this now not so silent distillery. This world-class rum was showcasing the calibre and skill of the maker and I was determined to understand where, what, who and how. As I headed west, I found myself in the golden shimmer of Last Light.
A little background: New Zealand is the only country in the world that legally permits home distilling and as a nation we have a unique and vibrant distilling culture of ‘can do Kiwis’ crafting spirits in garages across the country. Some of these distillers, such as Geoff Ross, iconic founder of 42 Below, have gone on to launch brands that have revolutionised what it means to be a distiller of quality spirits not just in New Zealand but around the world.
What is it about sheds and garages that calls to the artisan in all of us? In the birthplace of Last Light Rum home distiller turned rum maker Jon Price has been tinkering away for years — building his stills by hand and perfecting his recipes.
In the classic New Zealand tradition of a ‘bloke and his shed’ accompanied with a large dose of Kiwi understatement, Jon had only shared his rum with a few of his mates. All agreed it was tasty, yet none had a clue how good his rum was until he entered a sample into The New Zealand Spirits Awards in 2022 and won the Trophy for Best in Show, beating out the likes of iconic rum producers Appleton Estate (Jamaica), Havana Club (Cuba) and Mount Gay (Barbados).
“I’ve been brewing and distilling for nearly thirty years, but until recently it was always a garage hobby for me. A while back I decided to scale things up and experiment on a larger scale. I’m super proud of the outcome. I’m looking forward to seeing Last Light Rum lead a new era of rum in New Zealand.” - Jon Price
.
But before this press release and formal announcement - how did I find Last Light? Simple. Where there’s a Ravenhall, there’s something magical in the water. In this instance, Jon’s win in 2023 provided the drive to assemble a founding team of passionate mates. Some of whom happen to be spirits industry professionals — like Nick Ravenhall, who I consider an master instigator of good things and a trusted friend. On seeing that name, I put a previous enquiry about bottling together with this delicious spirit and one late night Whatsapp to Nick in Scotland later, the dots were connected. I was then quickly talking to his brother Matt Ravenhall here in Auckland. That was the Ravenhall treasure map that led to the shed. The Ravenhall brothers each bring over twenty years international industry experience and they, along with Matt Harrison (with twenty years of being mates with Jon and Nick) all joined the business in 2023.
Matt, formerly Global Head of Digital at East Imperial leads marketing; Nick, formerly Managing Director of Holyrood Distillery in Scotland (itself noted producer of Elizabeth Yard Rums, winner of IWSC Trophy for World’s Best Rum) manages sales; and Matt Harrison an ex-RNZN officer and business consultant steers operations. Together they round out a management team driven to help usher in the next generation of rum making in New Zealand.
More accolades quickly followed with Last Light Rum officially launching at The Rumbles late last year and winning an impressive four medals; two golds, a silver, and best-in-class.
At last, you can try it for yourself without the treasure hunt. Last Light Rum has launched with three exceptional rums: Solera Aged Rum, Cask Strength Solera Aged Rum, and a Cask Strength 100% Pot Still Rum.
There’s a trade tasting event at the distillery (tin shed) on Monday 4th March and a media event Tuesday 5th March. Interested in attending? Let me or Matt Ravenhall know.
Why do I want you to try these rums? Because they’re great. And it feels like the rum category in New Zealand has just hit critical mass with a variation of styles, techniques but a core cluster of high quality commendable spirits.
I’ve tried them all, stand by them and this teams. Here are the official tasting notes (which I may have offered an opinion on after sipping them all in a tin shed late last year).
PRODUCTS
Solera Aged Rum RRP: $99.99.700ML. 45.5% ALC/VOL.
At Last Light we use a system of fractional blending, called a solera. This is because none of us are trained blenders. So this technique, famously used in sherry, port and madeira, allows us to mature and blend different batches of rum simultaneously and helps us create a balanced and consistent maturation profile, without any of our untrained noses messing up the final blend.
In a solera, casks are arranged in tiers known as nurseries and each nursery contains rum of the same age. The youngest rums are matured in the upper nursery, the oldest are matured in the bottom. When we bottle our Solera aged rum, we will only use rum from the bottom of the solera. These casks are then topped up with rum from the nursery above and so on and so forth until we get to the upper nursery which is then topped up with new make rum.
In this way we are continuously blending younger rums with older rums whilst also allowing them to marry and mature on oak. See! Totally nose proof! Our casks used in the solera are a combination of American and French Oak which have previously matured NZ white and red wine. This adds another layer of complexity to the overall maturation profile of our Solera Aged Rum and using a solera system allows these complex flavours to balance and harmonise.
TASTING NOTES
A bright nose of apple, pear drop with honey and hot toddy spices bound with maple syrup sweetness. Solera is soft on the palate with lashings of sweet candied sugar followed by soft liquorice, cinnamon and nutmeg behind which the oak reveals itself softly. The well integrated oak adds a soft vanilla touch that fades to a lingering spicy finish.
Nose: cinnamon, brown sugar, maple syrup, stewed apples, autumn fruits, apple, orchard fruits
Cask Strength Solera Aged Rum RRP $120. 700ML. 55.2% ALC/VOL.
Solera Cask Strength is our rum at the alcoholic strength that it comes out of the last nursery in our solera. The spirit character from the rum and maturation flavours from the solera have not been diluted with water and therefore the flavours have been preserved in their natural and most concentrated form.
In addition we do not chill filter any of our rums. This means that we preserve the natural flavour compounds such as fatty acids, esters and proteins that give our rums complexity and texture. Cask Strength allows for a deeper sensory examination of Last Light allowing you to experience our rums as we do, straight from solera, undiluted, unfiltered, untouched. Just the way we like it!
TASTING NOTES
An autumnal fruit lead nose, with elegant touches of red apple leading to baking flavours from the kitchen pantry, cinnamon and maple syrup. Solera bursts onto the palate with candied sweetness which then deepens into caramelised brown sugar. Through the sweetness the oak emerges clear and dry accompanied with a light touch of vanilla that fades to a spicy dry finish.
Nose: cinnamon, brown sugar, maple syrup, stewed apples, autumn fruits, apple, orchard fruits,
Cask Strength 100% Pot Still Rum RRP: $130. 700ML. 56% ALC/VOL.
Our rum maker Jonathon, honed his distilling skills at home on a still made from a 50 litre beer keg. Yes you read that right. At home. Fun booze pub quiz knowledge. How many countries legally allow you to distil at home? That’s right. One. Little old New Zealand.
Soon enough the beer keg still was too small for the volume of rum production that Jonathon had in mind so he set about building a bigger still out of a 1000 litre stainless steel IBC. IBCs are used for the storage of bulk liquid. They are handy because they are square which means they can be stacked and moved about easily. However where others saw storage, Jon saw a still. With a built in drain and manhole cover and easy to manage welding geometry Jon had soon assembled a pot still in which to manage our stripping runs.
A stripping run is the first distillation and is called so as it strips out water, yeast and other sediments from the mash as well as capturing as much of the spirit as possible before moving to the final spirit run which at Last Light takes place on our column still and creates a more refined and clean spirit.
Our 100% Pot Still Rum doesn’t make it to the column still. Instead it undergoes a second distillation in the pot, which in itself is quite an inefficient distillation process, allowing for more of the heavier alcohols that would normally not survive column distillation to remain in the new make rum. These heavier alcohols create a more full bodied and flavourful Last Light rum drinking experience.
TASTING NOTES
An enticing nose rich with the smells of Mum's baking. Carrot cake, maple syrup, orange spice bound with walnut and pecan. The nose carries a dusty mahogany depth that brings to mind a wood panelled reading room with shelves of leather bound books. On the palate the rum is thick and viscous where lashings of sweet brown sugar wrestle with pencil shavings before the oak bursts through. The oak then settles and leaves lingering wisps of ginger, raisin and Xmas spices.
Nose: rich, walnut, pecan, carrot cake, stewed apples, maple syrup, orange spice, old library, nail polish, varnish, brandy snaps,
Body: thick, viscous, brown sugar, pencil shavings, oaky
