The Māori brothers founded Whisky and Waves, an ocean awareness charity, to call attention to the vulnerability of the earth’s beautiful waterways. They united on creating a campaign that would encourage a wider global responsibility for overfishing, poaching and environmental waste which have all destroyed marine populations and polluted the seas. The pair felt a special calling to work with Sea Shepherd on this project, whose charity work includes protecting Maui’s dolphins endemic to New Zealand. Teaming up with Signatory, one of the UK’s largest independent whisky bottlers, the drams will be used to create bespoke cask whiskies, which will be sold later this year to raise money to help protect and conserve New Zealand’s waters.

Des McCagherty of Signatory Vintage commented:“Signatory is delighted to be working with Whisky & Waves on their latest charity swim. The whole team have nothing but admiration for Nick, Alex and all the other swimmers as they once again take on such a challenging swim, in aid of such a worthy cause as Sea Shepherd. We are proud to be a part of the creation of a unique whisky, with the profits going to an international campaign to help protect the world’s oceans.”

The brothers now based in the UK both work in the new world whisky scene. Nick is the Managing Director for Edinburgh’s innovative Holyrood Distillery, whilst Alex is Head of Events for Atom Brands, whose clients include the famous independent whisky bottling brand Boutique-y Whisky Company. Both working in the drinks industry, the pair decided to tackle the global water problem in the sphere of whisky and in 2019 already raised $11,000 for Sea Shepherd.