DOWN UNDER DISTILLING

With more distilleries in Australia than ever before, it’s no exaggeration to say that Aussie spirits are in a boom time. From leading brands like Four Pillars, Starward, Lark and Archie Rose, to small, single still start-ups that seem to be popping up every few weeks, there’s certainly no shortage of Australian spirits to choose from in 2018.

According to figures from Nip of Courage, more than 150 distilleries are now open around the country – a statistic that is all the more impressive when you consider that as recently as 2013, there were less than 50.

And while it’s all about gin at the moment, Nip of Courage’s Kathleen Davies predicts “exciting times ahead” on the whisky front, as liquid that was put in barrel two years ago (or even longer) reaches maturation. “With over 80 Australian whisky distilleries predominantly producing quality drams… 2019 is the year to look out for reasonable volumes of Australian whisky becoming available,” Davies told BARS&clubs. “The best thing that venues can do is to get on board now and start stocking their back bars with Australian whisky as it is considered an emerging category globally,” she adds. “There is huge interest at the moment in the premium spirits category in general, and it generally offers great margins for venue owners.”

STARTING YOUR OWN

With all of this growth, it’s little surprise that a number of bartenders and drinks industry figures have forged a path on the distilling side of the equation in recent years. Two of the most prominent are Sean Baxter (Never Never) and Sebastian Reaburn (Anther), who have parlayed their experience behind the stick into their very own spirit labels. So, if the idea of opening your own distillery starts creeping into your mind, what are the main things to consider?

“If you want to start a spirit brand in Australia today you need to be fearless,” Baxter says. “There will be so many things that will try and beat the crap out of you along the way, so you need to be able to take a hit and have the strength to keep on moving forward.”

Kathleen Davies

Reaburn would certainly agree; as part of a panel discussion at the recent Drinks Collective Show in Melbourne, he described the path to opening his own spirit brand as “not a process of genius, but a process of perseverance.”

“There’s that famous quote: ‘do something you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life’,” Reaburn told the audience. “Well, we thought it appropriate when discussing how to start a small brand, to add a little bit of reality to that: ‘Do something you love, and you’ll work every hour you’ve got in terrible conditions, for no pay, forever.’ That’s the bad news…”.

There’s also the wait time for getting your hands on a still. “What you’ll see is that a lot of the premium producers of equipment are up to their eyeballs in orders at the moment,” explains Baxter. “You can purchase stills ‘off the shelf’ reasonably quickly, but if you want something customised and built to specification, there’s huge waitlists at the moment. For stills manufactured in the UK, you’re probably looking at nine months plus, and in the US, maybe a year or more.”

Sebastian Reaburn and Dervilla McGowan, Anther

Remember too, that the tangible, physical elements of a distillery are only part of the overall process of creating your own spirit brand. Marketing, branding and distribution will probably end up taking up more of your time – but as Reaburn says, there’s no single part of starting your own spirit brand that’s impossible to do, “the challenge is knowing the very many pieces and being able to do all of them.”

This is not to say that it’s impossible – just that if you choose this path, it won’t be easy. Having said that, you’ll probably find that your bar experience comes in handy in ways you wouldn’t have thought.

“From a bartending perspective, don’t discount the importance of your hospitality experience, it is crucial when it comes to the development of a brand’s authenticity,” says Baxter. “Bartenders understand drink-styling, flavour trends, industry influencers, networking, and most importantly, are authorities when it comes to understanding the consumer.

“They are also very familiar with what works and doesn’t work with brands they have dealt with previously over many years behind the bar.”

INTERNATIONAL DEMAND

Another source of optimism is the growing global appetite for Australian flavours – spirits included – as a result of this country’s unique produce, botanicals, and climactic conditions.

“There’s a beautiful little statistic that came out of the Gin Foundry: in the UK, there’s around 12- 1400 unique botanicals that can be distilled for unique flavours,” explains Reaburn. “In Australia, there is allegedly more than 22,000 and counting – all unique flavours that aren’t found anywhere else in the world.

Sean Baxter, Never Never

“Most of the world has some variation of a cow, but Australia has the kangaroo: that is the level of difference that we’re talking about between European flavours and Australian flavours. So the next ten years are going to be fantastic.”

Davies also believes the quality ingredients and small-scale production methods both contribute to the fact that Aussie whiskies are “very much considered ‘hand crafted’ compared to commercial overseas whiskies which are produced in mass quantities.” In addition, Davies points to the diversity of climatic zones across Australia – creating a wide range of whisky styles and unique aging techniques – as another unique selling point.

Aussie spirits are also making their mark on the international stage; a recent example being the 2018 International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC), where Australian distilleries took home over 80 medals.

“Australia’s distillery scene is only just blossoming, so there will be many more years of growth before we see it begin to plateau,” says Baxter. “Just like any boom, there will be some casualties along the way who perhaps underestimate the hard work and enormous expense required to build a successful spirit brand. However, expect to see more Australian spirits lining the shelves of your local bar, pub, restaurant or bottle shop.”

And while it’s always risky to predict the future, few would bet against Baxter’s prediction, and the continued growth of Australian spirits.