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new new zealand, this & that

Our very special cover bottles this quarter were found by Erica Mulder. Blue Duck Rare Vodka is
inspired by the extremely rare and endangered Blue Duck, hymenolaimus malacorhynchos. It is
unique to New Zealand and is confined to white-water rivers in the country’s remote mountain
regions. Its Maori name is whio whio after the distinctive whistling call of the male. Black Robin Rare
Gin is inspired by the extremely rare and endangered black robin petroica traversi. It is found only on
the remote Chatham Islands of New Zealand. Maori named it toutouwai and in 1980 there were only
five black robins left, only one female. Thanks to a herculean effort, a unique programme involving
the last breeding pair, and a lot of luck, the extinction of the species was averted. The whole process
was documented by Natural History New Zealand. If you want to see how the world’s rarest bird was
saved go to http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/the-black-robin-a-chatham-island-story-1989 - it is well
worth seeing and has become a ‘must watch’ for conservationists world-wide. A percentage of profits
from both these bottles is donated to the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand
for the preservation of these birds for future generations.

Erica also found the St. Remy Napoleon Brandy, a NZ import.

The five NZ bottles on
the left were unknown
to me when I spotted
them on a Slovakian
web site! (see also
More Sachets #2). Bliss
cream liqueur was
made by Lion Liquor
Retail but I do not know
when. The four
Gourmet Collection are
from a shop in Blenheim.

Jim Crawford sent us the photos of the tube
bottle from Morocco. How many of you even
knew Morocco made minis? It is a US import
so our US members should be able to source
this.

I also found this set of three Absinthe bottles, with spoon,
on the Slovakian web site referred to above. I thought, “I’ve
seen those bottles before.” Indeed I had, there are four
French whiskies in the same bottles in David Spaid’s
article later in this edition.

On the next page we have a photo of two birds. These
were sent to me be Seva and he is trying to track down
who made them. He thinks that they are probably from
somewhere in South America and the writing on them is
certainly Spanish. The were made for a XXIII Anniversary
dinner in 1978 for an Association of some sort. Any ideas?

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