Our water is drawn from Alvin’s well, named after Desiree’s father who built the well. Alvin’s well is fed by the flanks of Mount Cardrona itself. The water is sweet and plentiful – the first ingredient in making great spirits.
The King of Grains - Cardrona’s barley is grown on the rich Canterbury plains, and then malted to Cardrona’s exacting standards. The malted barley is milled on site at Cardrona and then combined with Cardrona water in a Forsyth lauter mash tun.
The wort is slowly drawn off where the final ingredient, distiller’s yeast is added, and the magic of fermentation begins. From these early stages the distillery and the landscape stamp its character permanently into the spirit. Our fermentation is long, more than 70 hours, allowing the spirit's character to develop fully formed, before being captured in Cardrona's curiously small copper pot stills.
