Our story

In 1824 the spirit of the Bluffys and the town of Bluff was born.

A trading post.
The engine room.
The crashing tail that would drive New Zealand’s maritime economy forward.

As the world got wind of this power port, they travelled and settled in alongside local Iwi and their cultural meeting of minds would change things forever.

None of them came here for an easy ride, you’re exposed in Bluff, and there’s nowhere to hide. But there’s a certain type of person who craves that kind of life.

Bluffys are different. You might meet one at a port in Nelson, Timaru or Auckland but they’ll still call themselves a Bluffy.

They’re humble, real – made of tough stuff. Razors don’t exist here.

They like their oysters fresh, and their gin clean. When at sea, they like a rum that prepares them for what’s coming with the next swell.

The Bluff Distillery Company was built for Bluffys. And those who want a taste of life on the edge, made on the edge of the world.

200 years on, it’s time to share this story with the world.

GIN THAT DOES WHAT IT SAYS ON THE TIN

Distilled 19,000km away from London, Bluff Gin is nevertheless our expression of a classical London Dry Gin. The bottle in your hand, however, is anything but classic.

It pays homage to the glass buoys that would keep afloat the illegal Japanese whaling nets, set across our protected Southern Seas. Bluffys, as the locals are known, would set sail and brave Hell’s Gate, an infamous strait of open sea to lop off these buoys, letting the nets sink into the deep blue.

Those who made it back proudly displayed the buoys on their masts, front doors and at their local pub, The Age. A warning sign that’s still present to this day, a warning sign to never mess with Bluff.

meet hannah

Our mighty copper still is named after the equally legendary Hannah Ward Barron. One of Bluff’s original entrepreneurs, hotel proprietors and publicans. As the stories report Hannah was a striking figure, standing tall with a shock of red hair. Irish by birth, Hannah enjoyed a tipple.

Hannah opened a lodge for sailors located near the wharf. Her business flourished and she borrowed enough money to buy land and convert her boarding house into the Club Hotel in Bluff. There, she thrived as a lodger and landowner and managed the hotel until her death.

Survived by daughter Mary and her two sons William and Joseph Ward, who was the 17th prime minister of New Zealand from 1906 to 1912, and again from 1928 to 1930.