Imported from Scotland, the still was made by Forsyths, of Rothes, and is identical to those used by all the most famous Scottish whisky distillers.
Cardrona distillery owner Desiree Whitaker said Saturday was the day she had hoped the distillery would open its doors for the first time. However, concrete panels and steelwork had been delayed because of demand created by the Christchurch rebuild.
As a result, the opening date has been pushed back to October.
''It's taking much longer than we ever expected but ABL [builders] are doing a great job for us. We are really, really pleased.''
Mrs Whitaker was delighted to see the ''most critical'' part of the whole project, the still, swung into place without any ''dings or dents''.
The new still joins a smaller whisky still already in the building and a far more modern looking still to be used to produce vodka, gin and orange liqueur.
Mrs Whitaker said she was still working on obtaining a supply of one of the five traditional barley varieties used by Scottish whisky makers for their malt.
That was likely to mean barley would have to be imported from Scotland in the short term, while the correct varieties were sourced and then grown locally.
''We're going to solve this issue.
We're not prepared to compromise on quality - we want to do this properly.''
Despite some ''red tape'', she is hoping to have seed barley available for planting in the spring.
