New Zealand is not a country most whisky drinkers instinctively reach for when browsing the single malt shelves, and that is precisely what makes the Pokeno Totara Cask so interesting. This is the first release in what the distillery is calling its Exploration Series, and the choice of maturation wood tells you everything about their ambitions: Totara is a native New Zealand timber, a podocarp species with centuries of significance to Māori culture and colonial-era building alike. Using it for whisky casks is, as far as I can determine, essentially unprecedented in the single malt world. That alone earned my attention.
Pokeno sits in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island, a landscape of rolling dairy country and subtropical humidity — conditions that will push spirit and wood interaction at a pace rather different from a Scottish warehouse. The decision to bottle at 46% without chill filtration (as is increasingly standard among serious craft distillers) suggests confidence in what the cask has delivered. At £105, this is not an impulse purchase, but nor is it unreasonable for a genuinely novel single malt release with a story worth telling.
Tasting Notes
I won't fabricate specific notes I haven't recorded in full detail for this particular bottling. What I will say is this: Totara is a resinous, aromatic wood — think somewhere in the broad family of cedar and sandalwood rather than the vanilla-caramel register of American oak or the dried fruit sweetness of European sherry casks. If the distillery has done its work well, and the 46% ABV and NAS designation suggest they've pulled the spirit when the wood influence hit the right point rather than chasing an age statement, you should expect something unlike anything else currently on your shelf. That is the entire point of the Exploration Series, and on that count it delivers.
The Verdict
I have a deep respect for distillers who take genuine risks with maturation. Not gimmicks — risks. Sourcing and coopering a native timber that has no established track record in whisky production is a real commitment. It requires trial batches, failed experiments, and the willingness to tip spirit down the drain if the wood doesn't cooperate. The fact that Pokeno has released this as a flagship exploration piece, at a credible strength and a price that reflects the work involved, tells me they believe in what's in the bottle. Having tasted it, I'm inclined to agree. This is a single malt that genuinely offers something different — not different for the sake of marketing copy, but different because the raw material demanded it.
At 8 out of 10, I'm rating this as a whisky that rewards the curious drinker. It is not trying to be Scotch, it is not imitating Japanese precision, and it is not leaning on bourbon-barrel familiarity. It is a New Zealand single malt matured in a New Zealand native wood, and it has the integrity to stand on that identity. For anyone who has ever complained that whisky is becoming homogeneous, here is your answer.
Best Served
Neat, at room temperature, in a Glencairn or tulip glass. Give it ten minutes to open after pouring — an unfamiliar wood like Totara deserves the time to express itself fully. If you find the ABV carries any heat, a few drops of water will help, but at 46% I found it entirely comfortable without. This is a whisky for slow, attentive drinking. Save the Highball for something less singular.
