Fourth-generation Canadian moonshiner and founder of Herrick Creek Distillery, Tom Finn, has launched a crowdfunding campaign to start making exceptional New Zealand moonshine.
The $15,000 campaign currently sits at almost $4000 and Finn is offering exclusive unreleased whisky in bottles and barrels, private tastings, and other rare perks to backers ready to support this bold pivot.
“Moonshine is in my blood,” says Finn. “New Zealand grows some of the best corn in the world, and our moonshine shows that off, along with local flavours like our Apple Pie moonshine that people love.”
Moonshine is a homemade, unaged whiskey, marked by its clear colour, corn base, and high alcohol content.
It was traditionally made or distributed illegally and the name is derived from a tradition of distilling the alcohol at night to avoid detection.
Herrick Creek Distillery, based in Christchurch, began in a garage with a love for corn spirits and a deep curiosity about what moonshine could become in Aotearoa.
“Our plan was always to make moonshine, gin, and eventually whisky — with the idea that whisky would one day take over as our main focus,” says Finn. “That day came… and went.”
Finn says this campaign helps them leave whisky behind (for now) and put everything into building the “best little corn moonshine distillery in the country”.
Funds raised will go towards ingredients and packaging, excise tax, bottles, labels and marketing and any unexpected costs.
The campaign runs until 20 July, 2025, and you can support it here.
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