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Graham Andrew, now in his 80s, has been distilling his own liquor since retirement.
When Graham Andrew retired as a roading engineer, he was looking for a hobby. His wife, Sharon, bought him some begonias, but he says that didn’t really fly.
Distilling, on the other hand, he was more enthusiastic about, and it gave him plenty to do in his spare time.
Graham makes the basic alcohol (40 per cent proof) in 25-litre batches at the couple’s holiday home in Mangawhai, then creates gin, including a pink variety, vodka, brandy and dark rum using a “secret combination” of flavour essences from home brew suppliers.
“A friend, Peter Olsen, gave me a still because he hadn’t had much success with it,” Graham says.
“I had home brewed beer when I was younger but never spirits, and I didn’t have a clue how to do it.”
Trial and error and many tastings followed.
“My wife is a strong critic and it was two or three years before she would drink my gin. One batch of 18 bottles was honestly described as ‘bloody awful’ so I tipped it all out.”
Eventually mixing four different gin essences together proved to be the winning formula for Sharon’s palette.
“Feedback these days is that it often tastes better than the bought stuff. It’s a very satisfying hobby,” he says.
