Mānuka Mead on the World Stage
New Zealand makes world class alcohol. Our wines, beers, vodkas, and gins have all been recognised internationally. Meanwhile, our land (and beekeepers) produce some of the world’s finest honey. We started Undisturbed on the hypothesis that someone really needed to combine these two stories into world-class mead. This could create a sustainable market for beekeepers to sell to, protect our forests, and showcase the uniquely Aotearoa flavours.
In February, we put the 2025 Mānuka Special Reserve through blind judging at the Mead Madness International Competition in Poland where it was judged against commercial meads from around the world. We’re thrilled with the results:
Aroma - 28/30. “Complex aroma, with chocolate, coffee, fennel and herbal notes.”
Flavour & Body - 31/32 “Warm alcohol, spices, smoke and herbal notes. Very complex, with each layer of flavour harmonising well with the previous one.”
Overall Score - 89/100. “A very good mead, with lots of complexity and showing a good representation of the honey.”
It lost a few marks for slight haziness, giving us something that’s a fairly straightforward fix for future awards entries.
Mānuka honey is known in mead circles as a difficult honey to ferment well. Earthy, resinous, sometimes pushing into darker notes that can feel almost roasted. It is not neutral. If you ferment it hard or try to soften it artificially, that character disappears. The aim with the Special Reserve has always been to let the honey show itself clearly, with time and restraint.
An 89/100 at an international awards is hugely satisfying following the years of R&D we’ve invested in meads with New Zealand honey. The result suggests that when Mānuka honey is handled carefully, the complexity that makes it difficult to work with carries through to make a great mead.
Undisturbed is built on the belief that flora defines flavour. That if New Zealand wine can lean into place, New Zealand mead can all the more thanks to flora that are unique to Aotearoa.
We’ve already started making our 2026 Manuka Special reserve, to be ready for sale in November 2026.
