Members of a well known Scottish whisky industry family, the Forsyths, arrived in Cardrona yesterday to commission the village's new distillery.
The distillery and museum's new manager, Jennie Whitlock, said everyone involved in the ambitious project was working long hours, ahead of an open day on November 5.
She is a member of the Forsyth family.
Her mother, Jane, was a Forsyth before she married Tony Whitlock, an Englishman who was the local customs and excise officer, and her brother, Ben Whitlock, is a coppersmith, making the firm's famous whisky stills.
Based on generations-old traditions, the Cardrona Distillery and Museum is being built on the Pisa Range foothills at the northern entrance to the village.
While the intention was to make whisky, gin, vodka and liqueurs - all based on malted barley, yeast and water - entirely from New Zealand products, given the country's small number of single-malt whisky distilleries a couple of ingredients had to be imported at this stage, Miss Whitlock said.
One of them is the optimum barley for making whisky, which is not grown in New Zealand and is being brought in from Scotland and northern England.
New Zealand farmers had contacted the distillery's founder, Desiree Whitaker, to express interest in growing the barley and this was the ultimate goal, Miss Whitlock said.
The triple sec, an orange liqueur, will have a North Island influence - the oranges are grown in Gisborne and squeezed by a Wellington juice company, before the peel is brought south to Cardrona.
Leftover barley husks will be sold to Cardrona Valley Farms for stock feed.
Water for the spirits and liqueurs will come from the Pisa Range and will be filtered, and water for cooling purposes will be drawn from the Cardrona River.
''Everything you need for a good dram is right here,'' Miss Whitlock said.
The whisky will be aged for at least a decade in oak casks from Spain and the US, which have previously stored sherry and bourbon, respectively.
The distillery - comprising three stone and iron buildings surrounding a garden - will also be home to a Cardrona museum and a perfumery.
Describing herself as a ''Jen of all trades'', Miss Whitlock said one of this week's jobs had been planting roses for the perfume.
About 1500 had been planted to date.
A tonne of rose petals is needed to make one litre of rose oil - the basis of the perfume - and, on harvest day they all need to be hand-picked by noon.
Miss Whitlock said the distillery was already attracting international interest.
The official opening is planned for January 25.
Miss Whitlock said the opportunity to work as a distillery manager in Cardrona, so similar to her native Scotland, was a ''dream come true.''
- Jessica Maddock
