Adelaide Hills distillery has a chilling history

 

The proliferation of distilleries throughout the Adelaide Hills continues.

On a recent road trip, guest poster Roderick Eime stumbled upon The Robbers Dog, situated in the former Bank SA building in the leafy town of Mt Pleasant.

Proprietor and distiller Rob Davies came from the West Australian mining industry and moved to South Australia before the pandemic to be near his wife’s family, who hail from the Hills.

Unfortunately, as I was in charge of a vehicle, and spitting spirits is not terribly classy, my tasting was limited to a teaspoon of Rob's famous Moonshine which, despite its clandestine moniker, is a quality whiskey to rival the big names. 

Curiously, the old bank building was robbed three times by the infamous bicycle bandit who raided banks across the Adelaide Hills over a period of 10 years. The bandit is still at large and a $100,000 reward for his capture remains unclaimed. 

I wonder if he will be tempted again?

 

Nautical but nice; special drinks for a special occasion

Two new releases from the boutique Port Cygnet Distillery in Tasmania are collector's items, fine drinks and works of art.

Port Cygnet distiller Harry Moses will this weekend unveil his first single malt whisky release (I've tried it and its is terrific) and a navy-strength gin.

There are 36 ceramic bottles of each crafted by local artisan potter Ian Clare at his studio just down the road - and the bottle design commemorates a circumnavigation of Tasmania aboard the sailing ship Kerrawyn.

One bottle of whisky - available for sampling - will be onboard Kerrawyn this Saturday at the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart.

Bottles are for sale online from Friday evening and will ship mid-March.

The gin is made from 14 botanicals and is billed as "one of a kind".

The first two months of the gin’s two-year maturation were spent onboard the locally built 74-year-old sailing ketch Kerrawyn when she circumnavigated Tasmania early 2021.

This is not one for wimps: it has an ABV of 57%.

The bottle boxes have been handmade by the owners of Kerrawyn, and are made of Tasmanian native timber: celery top pine with inlaid ceramic medallions by Ian Clare.

"Each bottle is a unique and collectible piece that will be treasured for years to come," says Moses. "This gin is an experience, a journey, a piece of history that will be cherished by all fortunate enough to try it."

The distillery is one of Australia's smallest, using a 30-litre copper pot still, producing approximately 50 bottles per batch. See https://www.cygnetdistillery.com.au/

Meet an asparagus vodka

It sounds like an April Fools joke, but I checked the calendar and it is definitely May. 

Portobello Road Distillery has launched what it claims is the “world’s first asparagus vodka”.

And the vodkas will be vintage releases, Drinks Business reported.

The London distillery intends to release the vodka annually, just after the start of asparagus season, using asparagus grown on Portwood Farm in Norfolk.

The vegetable is steeped for 24 hours in British potato vodka before being bottled in a limited run of 600 bottles each time.

Available for both the on-trade and off-trade, the vegan vodka features no filtration or additives and the distillery says it can be used to vamp up classic cocktails such as the negroni or martini. 

The launch follows an earlier attempt by the distillery to make an asparagus-based gin, which didn’t work as well as the team had hoped.

“The fact that it was a gin and therefore required to be juniper-led meant the actual asparagus flavour was quite subtle,” said Portobello Road Distillery co-founder Jake Burger.

“So when we stepped into vodka production, we wanted to revisit the ingredient, but this time in a product where the flavour could really stand out and sing in mixed drinks”. 

Righto Jake. 

# Portobello Road Distillery really is based on London’s famous Portobello Road. 

A true taste of Australia is the hallmark on a new gin

The team at award-winning Canberra distillery Underground Spirits like to approach things a little differently. 

Underground Spirits recently released a new limited-edition gin on the Australian market, the second bottling of the popular Ad Crescendum Gin, a collaboration with the Australian National Botanical Gardens. 

Known as Ad Crescendum var. Flosferam (not the catchiest name, marketing types) the new gin features the flavours of some of the Garden’s Australian natives. This edition follows on from a successful collaboration in 2020 with the Australian National Botanic Gardens launched for their 50-year anniversary. 

Collaborating with the gardens means Underground had access to deep botanical knowledge which aided the selection, foraging and handpicking of the botanicals that went into this year’s recipe. 

When trying to find the ‘true taste of Australia’ in the gardens, Underground focused on the new Banksia Garden. 

The finished gin landed with native specimens like Banksia ericifolia (Red Cluster, Heath Leaved Banksia), Austromyrtus dulcis (Midgen Berry), Brachychiton populneus (Kurrajong) and Lemon Scented Gum. 

Part of the profits from this gin help support native plant conservation activities conducted by the Gardens.  

“It’s been amazing to taste the final product," said Underground Spirits’ CEO, Claudia Roughley. 

"It really is an amazing interpretation of what the Gardens’ Banksia Garden tastes like and that’s not a sense that you instantly consider when you’re visiting the gardens. Most people are content to look, smell and touch what’s growing at the foot of Black Mountain – now with this gin, you can taste it as well. 

“Gin is growing in popularity across the country and there is a real movement to find true Australian tastes and recipes that no one else can replicate and quality that can’t be copied. And that is what Ad Crescendum has become for us. 

“Having access to the nation’s leading botanic garden, its plants and its talented horticulturalists has really given us all the ingredients to authentically produce a taste of the Australian bush. And it’s a taste that is a world first – there’s no native Banksia-inspired gins anywhere on the market right now, and we’re proud to be trail blazing in this space with the Australian National Botanic Gardens team.”  

Ad Crescendum var. Flosferam is now on sale for $95 online direct from www.undergroundspirits.com.au and at other speciality independent liquor retailers and bottle shops.  

 

Take a gin-soaked tour around NSW

Calling tattooed, bearded, dreadlocked craft spirit hipsters - and anyone who enjoys a quiet G+T after work. 

September 1 is apparently designated Australian Craft Gin Day (every product in Australia now has its own designated day, apparently, apart from Anusol). 

Those funky folk at Destination NSW have released a gin lover's itinerary, taking in 12 of the homegrown, award-winning distillers in the state. 

Strap yourself in, grab some tonic and a few slices of fresh lemon and get to know distillers from Sydney to Byron Bay, Wollongong to the Riverina, and even Lord Howe Island.

Discover the spirits of Sydney 

Founded in 2014, Archie Rose Distilling Co. in industrial Rosebery, just north of Sydney Airport, is Australia's most highly-awarded distillery. It produces a range of whiskies, gins, vodkas and rums, and the odd experimental tipple, such as a brandy made from smoke-tainted grapes. Enjoy cocktails at the bar and book in for a distillery tour or blend-your-own-gin class.  

In Sydney's inner Eastern Suburbs, Brix Distillers uses only premium ingredients to create a variety of unique rums. Book in for a tour, rum spicing class or perhaps a Saturday cocktail lunch in its Surry Hills distillery.  

Go north for a nip or two 

Independently owned by herbalist/distiller Philip Moore, Distillery Botanica in Erina on the Central Coast, a short drive north of Sydney (depending on the traffic), grows its own botanicals on-site and incorporates them in award-winning spirits, including Moore's Dry Gin and Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur. Visitors can taste the range, then take a stroll in the distillery's charming garden. 

In the Byron Bay hinterland, Cape Byron Distillery is the home of Brookie's Gin and a favourite of this columnist. It's a spirit made with a variety of botanicals, including those found in the distillery's rainforest setting. Learn more about the rainforest connection on the distillery's tour, which includes, of course, a tasting.  

A family-owned and -operated distillery pioneering paddock-to-bottle virgin cane rum, Husk Distillers at Tumbulgum on the Far North Coast is famous for its indigo-coloured Ink Gin. Drop into the cellar door, which opened in 2019, for a tour or a cocktail on the lawn, which boasts superb views towards Wollumbin (Mount Warning).  

Sip your way south 

With a collective goal to produce handcrafted spirits, four friends founded Wollongong's first distillery in 2015. A Headlands Distilling Co. They produce three different gins in distinctive bottles, including one flavoured with local Illawarra plums.  Sample it on one of the free tours held on Fridays and Sundays.  

As the name suggests, the multi award-winning North of Eden micro distillery is located on a working farm in Stony Creek, a 50-minute drive north of Eden on the far South Coast. All its London dry-style gins are made in 200-bottle batches and feature ingredients grown on the farm or foraged locally. Most of its bar/cellar door seating is outdoors. 

Head west for a tipple 

Founded in 2018, Parrot Distilling Co.'s extensive range of gins pay homage to the fruit and wine that the Orange region, a 3.5-hour drive west of Sydney, is renowned for. Opened in 2020, The Aviary, its cellar door and bar, is the ideal spot to sample them.  

Just 45 minutes east of Orange, Stone Pine Distillery is Bathurst's first micro distillery. Set in a  homestead dating back to the 1840s, the eco-conscious distillery's cellar door is an atmospheric spot to sample its gins, spiced rums, limoncello, and more.  

Take a packed lunch 

Situated between Jindabyne and Thredbo, Wild Brumby Distillery is the highest distillery in Australia and uses alpine water, organically grown fruit and native mountain botanicals for its schnapps, gin, vodka and gluhwein. Its distillery door also doubles as a café.  

Born out of co-owner Mark Burns' quest to connect with his Scottish heritage, Aisling Distillery in Griffith in the Riverina specialises in small batch premium single-malt whisky, rum and gin.   

And on Lord Howe Island, a two-hour flight from Sydney, Lord Howe Island Distilling Co. creates award-winning spirits that use both wild and endemic island botanicals such as wild lemons planted by early settlers. It doesn't have a distillery door (yet) but its Wild Lemon and Hibiscus Gin can be found at various outlets around Lord Howe. 

For more details see www.visitnsw.com/