Whisky | Hellyers Road

Brand Focus: HELLYERS ROAD

ONE HELLYERS OF A GOOD WHISKY STORY

IT IS AUSTRALIA’S LITTLE KNOWN DISTILLING STORY OF INSPIRATION, DETERMINATION AND QUIET SUCCESS. TASMANIA’S THIRD WHISKY DISTILLER AFTER LARK AND SULLIVAN’S COVE IS LAUDED INTERNATIONALLY FOR ITS WHISKIES OF EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY. DRINKS TRADE SPOKE WITH GENERAL MANAGER ANDY BOWER ABOUT WHY IT WAS THE BRAND AUTHENTICITY THAT DREW HIM IN.

Hellyers Road celebrated a big win when named the Best Australian Single Malt Whisky at the 2021 World Whisky Awards for its Henry’s Legacy Freestone Cove.

Recently appointed General Manager Andy Bower says it’s not the first time the distillery has come home with a gong after passing the taste test with the world’s best whisky palates. His challenge is getting the team at Hellyers Road excited about it because what motivates them is a pure and unabashed passion for the product more than the international awards it accumulates.

Bower says it’s about time the awardwinning distillery was more vocal about its plethora of wins; the team should be proud that their hard work and dedication is being recognised on a global scale.

“The Best Australian Single Malt Whisky is not the first time they have won awards. The World Whisky Awards website is full of awards Hellyers has won, and nobody knows it; it is the best-untold whisky story in town,” says Bower.

The story of Hellyer’s Road began with an unlikely group of would-be distillers who were making a buck in the dairy business close to a town called Burnie in Tasmania’s northwest. Already accustomed to building, growing and milking things, these innovative farmers knew their environment was perfect for sourcing ingredients of purity

‘“The Best Australian Single Malt Whisky is not the first time they have won awards. The World Whisky Awards website is full of awards Hellyers has won, and nobody knows it; it is the best-untold whisky story in town,” says Bower.

and quality. In the late 1990s, they thought it might be an excellent place to build a distillery. It turns out their vision was ahead of the time, with Tasmania now boasting over 80 distilleries.

Not many Australians would know about the whisky’s namesake, Henry Hellyer, but he was an explorer and an iconic figure in the establishment of Tasmania. Brought over by the Van Diemen’s Land Company in 1827, his job was to find land for development. He cut his way through the northwest of Tasmania and was responsible for naming more than 300 places. Bower says one of his original exploration roads winds its way straight through the Hellyer Road property in Burnie, quite literally straight through the distillery car park.

Hellyer drew Bower in through its true story of patience, tenacity, foresight and authenticity.

“Coming from American Distillery Jack Daniels and other places, I have dealt with brands that have genuine authenticity, and they are rare to find. A lot of businesses or brands create their stories. We’ve got this wonderful brand with a story to tell, and it is almost like the people involved are too modest to tell it. It has an authentic appeal and is a brand that doesn’t try to be genuine -it just is.

“The more I looked into the business, the more I discovered how much authenticity the distillery had. A group of dairy farmers built the company with enormous foresight and an awful lot of determination and fortitude. This also summarises Henry Hellyer’s attitude. He also had determination and fortitude and of course authenticity, “says Bower.

The founders built the distillery in 2001, and the company still has barrels in the warehouse from 2002, when the brand’s first whisky launched to market. Since, Hellyers has built up the cellar every year because, as Bower says, whisky is a slow burn and what you distilled in 2002 doesn’t come into focus until ten years later.

Hellyers is one of the few distilleries on the island with genuine aged stock and although they wish they had made more whisky ten years ago, Bower says it’s his job to ensure supply meets demand without compromising on quality. He says they are already supplying 20 international markets and have increased production but will not sacrifice quality for quantity, even if that means putting the breaks on emerging markets.

Besides excellent single malts, Hellyer Road also produces an outstanding whisky liqueur made with fresh cream that makes perfect sense given the founders’ experience with dairy products. The liqueur is the brand’s second-biggest seller.

“These guys use the fresh cream because they had the milk and the dairy technology to do it, and this is where the two businesses have become wedded in many ways. This technology these dairy farmers had in their dairy production has transferred over to Hellyers and that whisky cream liqueur is to die for,” says Bower.

“It’s a typical story for Hellyers - fantastic product, fantastic story, the authenticity, the people, so many stories that haven’t been told, and that’s what I am going to do is tell the story because it deserves it,” says Bower.

For more on Hellyers Road visit hellyersroaddistillery.com.au