Murrindindi Guide Winter 2020

Amanda Furlong and Rob Mitchell hand craft a unique and rare blueberry liqueur, a labour of love and passion, called Sassy Sister Decadent Blueberry Brandy Liqueur.

It’s produced at Bilyara Springs in the foothills of the pristine Strathbogie Ranges in north-east Victoria, where their organically grown blueberries and red currants thrive.

The annual crop of berries is steeped for 12 months in a twenty- year-old brandy which has been blended with a younger vibrant brandy spirit in the style of a cognac (both of which have been aged in American and French oak barrels). This is then crushed and the essence is returned to the vat for another four to five years to allow the fruit and spirit to mature into a smooth, well rounded and delicious liqueur.

Family and friends have enjoyed Sassy Sister Liqueur for many years and finally convinced Amanda and Rob to offer ‘her’ to the wider audience. In May 2019 the liqueur was released into the market and simultaneously entered into two prestigious competitions – the 2019 Australian Distilled Spirits Awards (ADSA) where ‘she’ won a silver medal and the Melbourne International Spirits Competition winning another silver medal being just one point short

of a gold (they were unaware of the necessity to inform the judges that the liqueur’s deep rich, red colour is natural and not synthetic). As small craft distillers they were thrilled to receive the awards and the accompanying accolades acknowledging that Sassy Sister Decadent Blueberry Brandy Liqueur is special and at 33.4% AV no shrinking violet! Sassy Sister has since been taken up by many bars and boutique spirit outlets (including several Foodworks and IGA outlets) across Victoria as well as garnering serious interest from overseas distributors. As a digestif or aperitif the liqueur is great on its own, but really shines in cocktails – visit the website for recipes sassysisterliqueur.com.au. “We have 6 children between 35 and 45 who name and judge all our cocktails and they are pretty ruthless when it comes to what they all like,” says Rob. Just look for Sassy Sister Liqueur on the web, buy at Grant Street Grocers in Alexandra and partake of a drop at Killingworth Hill Whiskey Bar & Cafe just outside of Yea – also available through the Dan Murphy website.

Sassy Sister