The Story
The large site now housing the 23rd Street Distillery in Renmark was first built in 1914 by Chateau Tanunda, one of the Commonweath’s largest brandy producers at the time. It had a number of owners – Renmano Wines, Berri Estate and Hardy’s Wine – throughout the 20th century, but was closed in 2004 and lay dormant until locally-owned Bickfords Australia stepped in.
Under the guise of its sister company Vok Beverages, Bickfords purchased the site for the erection of a new distillery, and in September 2016, the big moment arrived.
The launch of 23rd Street Distillery attracted plenty of attention. The $6.6 million venture was supported by a $2.3 million government grant, and signaled the SA government’s intention of supporting up-and-coming distilleries.
Bickford’s has a penchant for resuscitating famous Aussie drinks brands (Beenleigh Rum is also in the Vok Beverages stable, and also dabbling in whisky). But initially, the distillery was pitched as brandy-focused, befitting the heritage of the location and the experience of head distiller Graham Buller, who had decades of experience producing South Australian wine and brandy.
Bickfords had purchased the Black Bottle Brandy portfolio from Accolade Wines back in 2011, and with the new, sleek 23rd Street Distillery they geared up to bring brandy back from the doldrums and tackle Australia’s nonchalance towards the historic category head on.
But the distillery has always had a multi-spirit focus. Vodka and a range of popular 23rd Street gins have been released, and the whisky side of the equation started with the curious 23rd Street Hybrid Whisk(e)y, an affordable blend of Scotch and Bourbon that piqued the interest of whisky fans while the Renmark-distilled malt matured.
A 23rd Street single malt was then released in June 2019. It was distilled from wash produced at Stone & Wood Brewery in Byron Bay and matured solely in ex-Bourbon barrels.
Then in May 2021, batch one of a new 23rd Street Single malt was released under the ‘XXIII Connoisseurs’ Range’. This malt was wholly mashed, distilled and matured in 200 litre first-fill ex-Bourbon casks in Renmark. The latter choice has proved a bold decision considering the distillery’s location in the heart of wine country and the penchant for Aussie whisky makers to favour oak-forward ex-wine cask maturation, but shows a confidence in the spirit being produced at 23rd Street.
That spirit is derived from two historic pot stills built by Adelaide manufacturers H. Jennings in the 1950s. They were previously used for brandy production, similar to those employed by Smith’s Angaston, and their tall necks are ideally suited to capturing a lighter style of spirit.
Further whiskies are due in coming years under the XXIII Connoisseurs’ Range, and the distillery has its sights set on becoming one of South Australia’s hubs for distilling and spirits production.
Whiskies Reviewed:
Core range:
23rd Street Distillery Single Malt Whisky (Batch 1) XXIII Connoisseurs’ Range
23rd Street Distillery Hybrid Whisk(e)y
Limited releases:
23rd Street Distillery Single Malt Whisky (Stone & Wood wort)