1 Mar 2014

NZ whisky one of world's top drams

6:33 am on 1 March 2014

The latest edition of Jim Murray's Whiskey Bible has for the first time named a New Zealand whiskey as one of the top drams in the world.

The internationally renowned guide scored the New Zealand Whisky Company's South Island Single Malt 95 out of 100.

Company chief executive Greg Ramsay says being recognised as one of the world's best by Jim Murray is the ultimate endorsement and a salute to the craftsmanship of the Dunedin distillers.

He says the 2014 Whisky Bible includes more than 4500 whiskies from around the world, and only a small number of them have received such a high score.

The award winning whiskey will be one of over 250 available at the whiskey tasting festival, Dram Fest, in Christchurch on Saturday.

In the Whisky Bible, Jim Murray describes the South Island Single Malt as "Clean, delicate and elegant beyond words".

The South Island Single Malt is the company's flagship single malt and is aged for 21 years in American Oak, ex-bourbon barrels.

The whisky is exported from Oamaru and available across Canada, the UK, Australia and Europe.