Waikato Business News August/September 2023

6
Piko gin wins
silver with the
flavours of
Aotearoa
Infusing gin and the unique flavours
of Aotearoa has won Waikato’s Clark
Lane Distillery a silver medal at the
Asia Spirits Challenge.
Co-founders Andrew
Thomson, Andre
Vandenberg, Duncan
Otto and Mark Flyger knew
they had stumbled onto something
special when they tasted
their first batch of pikopiko-infused
gin.
"Winning this medal validates
the exceptional quality
we consistently aim to offer,"
Otto says.
Like many good business
plans of late, the idea was conceived
during the Covid-19
lockdown by a group of blokes
Piko co-founders Andrew Thomson, Andre
Vandenberg, Duncan Otto and Mark Flyger
over a friendly beer discussing
how they might experiment
with Duncan’s small distillery
sitting in the shed at his Clark
We’ve discovered one
of the nice ways to
drink it is with a slice
of cucumber, some
cracked pepper and
just a little tonic
Lane home in Te Pahu.
“We had experimented
with adding different flavours
to alcohol but this was a different
experience (making
alcohol from scratch). We did
a bit of research and with the
first initial taste we knew we
had something pretty good,
we just needed to do a bit of
refining,” Duncan says.
There are several
things that set Piko
apart from other
gins, he says, including
the all-important
distinctive, sweet
asparagus-like flavour
from the pikopiko
combined with the
alcohol which is distilled
in fresh spring
water sourced from a
friend’s property at the foothills
of Pirongia.
“During the journey, we
found that, because we make
our own base alcohol where
97% of gin distilleries don’t,
we get a very clean alcohol.
It's not bitter, it's a very nice
flavour.”
Harvested annually, the
pikopiko fronds were originally
sourced locally but the
team have since planted hundreds
of asplenium bulbiferum,
commonly known as
hen and chicken fern, on a
friend’s farm in Taranaki to
provide a consistency in quality
and flavour.
Their gin journey has also
seen a move from Duncan’s
home still to larger distillery
equipment based at his pub
Biddy Mulligans on Hood
Street in December last year.
They’ve also taken on sales
and marketing manager Stuart
Atiken to help boost the profile
of Piko – starting locally
before moving to the international
markets of China, Japan
and the UK.
Aitken says Piko is a highend
gin and this is reflected in
the price – retailing at $95 for
a 700ml bottle.
“We've been targeting premier
liquor outlets, such as
Hamilton Beer and Wine, the
Keg Liquor Merchant, Cambridge
Fine Wine and the
Mount Wine Barrel. We've got
it in places like Ernest and Palate
and others have expressed
an interest.”
They are currently bottling
around 500 Piko gins a month
and keen to go bigger when
the time is right.
“Our long-term plan is to
open up a commercial distillery
somewhere so it’s not
upstairs (in Biddy’s) and
introduce a few new products
over time,” Duncan says.
In the meantime, being
based at Biddy’s means they
can hold Piko tastings upstairs
at the pub.
“We’ve discovered one of
the nice ways to drink it is
with a slice of cucumber, some
cracked pepper and just a little
tonic,” Aitken says.
Dubbed as the world’s
most important gin competition,
the team have also
entered Piko into the London
Gin of the Year Awards and,
with a silver at the Asia Spirits
Challenge, they are hopeful
for some positive results in
November.
•••
Book a Piko gin tasting at
sales@clarklanedistillery.
co.nz or 027 560 4621
Option 1 - $30 pp for 1 hour
tasting. Three different mixes
of Piko gin to taste.
Option 2 - $60 pp for 2 hours.
Three different mixes of Piko
gin with tapas and a cocktail.
Procuta Associates
Urban + Architecture
07 839 6521
www.pauaarchitects.co.nz
“
Architecture takes you to a place you are
unlikely to arrive at on your own. It is the
ultimate opportunity to make your home or
work environment personal and purposeful.