A Craft Gin Distillery Has Opened in Wellington

Eamon O'Rourke and Mark Halton have opened Denzien Urban Distillery, a craft distillery. With the city relishing in sunshine, there comes a hankering for a Kiwi favourite: gin

The Denzien Urban Distillery has hit the city right in the heart. The distillery is off Lombard Street in Te Aro, Wellington's most recent laneway. This is a distillery with a twist (of lemon). The Denzien Urban Distillery creates small batch gin from rain water. The construction of the gin includes native botanicals, sustainable whey ethanol and is crafted in a Kothe copper pot still. Producing all the right kind of tangs.

The owners' mix of imagination, craftsmanship and authenticity has lead to the founding of world-class New Zealand terroir gin. The distillery will be offering gin for purchase, a tasting shop, educational tours and retail refuge. The distillery's first release, Te Aro Dry, is a juniper-forward style versatile enough to drink as a martini or in a G&T.

The laneway of Lombard Street is a project the Wellington City Council has worked on for a 2040 vision. Sprucing up the city's under-utilised laneways has opened way for cultural treats, like Denzien.

Lombard was once the capital's shoreline, now consequently docked upon it is a bustling distillery that reflects Wellington's historic beginnings. O'Rourke and Halton's early business discussions took place at Hanging Ditch on Leeds Street over a glass of gin, thus pathing laneways as part of Denzien's foundation.

As well as being available at Moore's Wilsons, you can track down the first batch at Avida, The Featherston, Glass, The Malthouse, Fork & Brewer, Burger Liquor, Monsoon Poon and Boulcott Street Bistro & Wine Bar. Load up on gin at Wellington's for a taste of imagination, summer and the city all in one gulp.

Find Denzien Urban Distillery at 10 Lombard St, Te Aro.