australian distilleries promotion
Belgrove Distillery One of the most unique distilleries in Australia, if not the world… Belgrove Distillery, located around 45 minutes north of Hobart, does things a little differently. Not only is it home to Australia’s first (and only) 100% rye whisky, but distiller and owner Peter Bignell also grows his own rye corn on the same farmland that is home to his distillery – producing his whisky on a copper still that he built from scratch, no less. In short, it’s a ‘closed loop’ operation: the still is direct fired by cooking oil recycled from a roadhouse down the road, water for brewing and diluting is harvested from the roof, yeast is often reused, and Bignell feeds the spent mash to his sheep. Talk about sustainable. “The two main products we sell would be the Rye Whisky, which is a vatting of a number of different barrels, and the other we sell a lot of is a coffee liqueur we call Black Rye,” Bignell told BARS&clubs. Other, even smaller batch whiskies produced by Belgrove include a peated rye (with the peat sourced from a bog behind his brother’s house), an oat whisky, and a rather unique, soon to be released liquid by the name of Wholly Shit – a rye whisky smoked with sheep dung. And his hard work is paying dividends; Bignell lists the 94.5 ‘Liquid Gold’ rating he received for his Rye Whisky from Jim Murray, and his recent success at the Australian Icons of Whisky Awards – where, among other accolades, Belgrove was named Craft Producer of the Year – as his proudest achievements. As for serving suggestions? “I always say if people really want to taste what it is I produce, you really need to sip it at room temperature with maybe a little bit of water, and that’s it,” says Bignell. “But really, however people like it – have it that way.”
Never Never Distilling Co. Nobody puts juniper in the corner… When it comes to the most prominent flavours found in contemporary Australian gin, juniper is often pushed into the background. However, there are some brands proudly flying the juniper flag and bringing this magnificent botanical in from the cold. If you ask the owners of Never Never Distilling Co., the juniper revolution has well and truly begun. After launching their brand a little over a year ago, their signature-style Triple Juniper Gin has won accolades globally for its rich, pine-drenched flavour. “From the outset we wanted to make a gin that would be celebrated by lovers of the classic gin style,” says Never Never Distilling Co’s Brand Director, Sean Baxter. “It was these particular gins that got us into loving classic drinks in the first place. It’s important to us that the juniper flavour is pronounced when mixed with tonic and in classic cocktails.” After winning three gold medals at the San Francisco World Spirit Competition, London Gin Masters and SIP Awards, they have proven in a very short time frame that juniper forward gin is something that is pined for by consumers. “Juniper, as the predominant botanical flavour of gin, is the very thing that brought the vast majority of people to gin in the first place, so we’re all about respecting our signature ingredient,” says Director, George Georgiadis. “We’ve taken it to the next level, with our three-method distillation, complementary botanicals designed to showcase the juniper, and our bold style.”
(l-r) Owners Tim Boast, Sean Baxter and George Georgiadis
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