Our Distillery
Our distillery is a labour of love, based in Pāpāmoa, New
Zealand and crafted over the last 5 or so years in between our "real" daytime jobs.
We've funded, designed, and built this distillery off our
own backs, without outside investment or interference. This means we get to do things OUR way and create genuine products through careful research and development without rushing to keep an "Armada" of shareholders happy.... Hah!
Having completed licensing requirements and navigating no small number of hurdles along the way, with regulatory challenges and criteria to meet and satisfy - there was plenty! But we are proud to say that we managed to do most of it without having to engage too many high priced 'experts' to get it done, leaving us with a little more treasure in the chest to work on bringing a range of high-quality spirits to people who expect the best. With kiwi ingenuity at the heart of it all.
We are Asurequality verified, to meet and where possible, exceed New Zealand food safety standards so you can be rest assured that we know what we're doing.
Have we done it the hard, long-winded way? Probably. And in some people’s opinions that would be a firm ‘yes’. But nothing worth doing is usually ever easy, nor does it create lasting satisfaction or longevity of business.
Having already spent the last 15 years building one business, we're ready for our next challenge in taking handcrafted New Zealand spirits to the world and enjoying the process along the way.
We hand-make, bottle, and label every one of our products, step by step, with care and attention to detail.
The Why!?
Our initial inspiration to start Armada Spirits was our
desire to create an amazing New Zealand whisky and rum. Obviously though, with the time those spirits take to age to perfection, we needed another way to produce an income to allow us to re-invest into the long-term development of our dark spirits.
Enter... Armada Vodka - our first liquid asset off into the
market. And we'll be straight up here, we spent wayyyyyy too long working on this. But was it worth the process? We think so!
Let’s be honest, vodka is pretty boring for the most part,
right? It's been done many times, and quite well too. But there's always room for innovation and our goal is to make it less boring.
Made from grain sourced from the South Island of New Zealand, our vodka has a smooth, crisp taste to it
with a subtle sweet finish and hints of vanilla or even Crème Brûlée as some experts have noted, which makes it great for sipping, if that's your thing, or it goes great in your favourite cocktail.
It's picked up Medals in the NZ Spirits Awards 2 years
running. We must be doing something right!
What About Gin??
We never thought you'd ask, but we're glad you did....
Not being ones to disappoint, we've made an epic gin too. Good enough that it's even picked up a shiny little award at its first ever spirits competition. We reckon we're on the right track!
This fresh looking and zesty tasting bottle of deliciousness is now available to purchase online and will be in stores soon.
To everyone that has helped us get this far, thanks for your support and we hope you enjoy drinking it as much as we enjoyed making it.
How's The Rum Coming Along?
Well, great actually, 3 years later after resting quietly by the ocean, and it's finally ready for the world to critique it.
We're pretty proud of this one. Head on over to our online shop to check it out and grab a bottle.
Our Masterpiece Glass Column Still.
This bit of kit seems to be what most people are interested in, and rightly so. This thing is a beast.
1000 Litre boiler, 9 plate copper and glass column, with a gin basket and adjustable path controls. This allows us to do straight vodka runs and gin runs with botanical infusion in the vapour path.
We custom designed this with some very clever local engineers from Mount Metal Craft along with some international engineers and experts in still design and manufacture, then had them piece it all together for us.
Check out the video to see some of the build and installation process.
Bottles, Tops & Barrels?
We source our high quality glass bottles from France and we've used a super snazzy crystal closure (bottle top) from Vinolok for our vodka and gin.
The materials and packaging we use are not cheap by any stretch, but we believe you get what you pay for.
It's not just about a drink...it's about an experience!
Once you've emptied out the delicious contents of your bottles, you can re-use them as stylish water decanters. Or simply recycle them as normal.
Our Oak Barrels are sourced from various wineries around New Zealand. We have a mixture of ex Red and White wine barrels that we painstakingly pull apart and charr to the level we want depending on which spirit is going to be filled into them, and depending on what type of flavour profile we are aiming for.
