Negotiations For Whisky

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31364, 9 May 1967, Page 3

Negotiations For Whisky

(N.Z. Press Association) HAMILTON, May 8. New Zealand liquor merchants are negotiating with British whisky firms to import casked whisky for bottling in New Zealand.

If they are successful and the bulk of imported Scotch whisky arrives in the country in casks, it will enable merchants to import 20 per cent more whisky. This will offset the recent 20 per cent import cuts but will not help reduce the rapidly-growing whisky 'shortage.

Attempts will also be made to bring in brandy and rum for New Zealand bottling. A liquor industry source, who gave these details in Hamilton, said the scheme depended on New Zealand glass manufacturers as well as negotiations in Britain. New Zealand importers would be geared to deal with the casked whisky in the next three to four months provided they could get the required bottles, he said. But the president of the Auckland Liquor Wholesalers’ Association, Mr H. L. J. MacIndoe, did not want to comment on the move apart from saying it was an attempt by liquor importers to soften the

blow of the whisky shortage. Mr Maclndoe said the liquor trade had no alternative to soften the blow other than importing casked liquor. The present situation was “hard on the trade and public alike.”

“We are negotiating over this at present and we are hopeful,” he said. The Hamilton spokesman said that New Zealand bottling would be a big programme and would Involve a considerable expansion of staff at bottling plants. At present only a small amount of Scotch whisky was bottled in New Zealand but if the present negotiations were successful a major percentage of the im-

ports would be bottled in New Zealand.

The spokesman said the over-proof whisky would generally arrive in oak casks. It would be broken down to battling strength, basically by the addition of water. The water in Scotland was widely believed to give Scotch whisky much of its flavour, but many of New Zealand’s mountain streams and water supplies would be among the best in the world, he said. New Zealand bottling of liquor Immediately after the Second World War was not of an extremely high quality, but the recent local bottling of gin and brandy had been accepted by the public and was of good quality, he said.