Smoky veils
starts here.
It started with curiosity.
What would happen if you took New Zealand monofloral mānuka and multifloral honey and matured them inside whisky barrels?
Driven by a spirit of adventure, brother-and-sister founders and their families set out to test the idea, becoming the first in New Zealand to age raw honey in whisky barrels. Working with freshly emptied barrels from Pōkeno Whisky, we united two centuries-old traditions.
We put the honey in. We waited. Months later, something emerged that we hadn't quite prepared for: whisky warmth, layered depth, balanced sweetness – complex in a way only nature and time could craft.
Those first barrels became Smoky Veils.
Twenty years working alongside the bees – still guided by the same care as day one.
Our bees freely forage the wild landscapes of New Zealand's North Island – untamed countryside and native bush, as far as the hive can reach. That freedom shows up in the flavour. We guide our craft by the natural rhythms of bees, no shortcuts, no compromises.
Then the barrels take over: years of whisky history in the wood, meeting honey for months of slow ageing. The result is warmth, depth, and notes of toffee and toasted oak that play against natural floral sweetness — a flavour entirely new, and entirely New Zealand.
For the table, not the pantry.
Smoky Veils was created as a rare experience to share with those you appreciate and to push the boundaries of what honey can be.
