The Story

Shene Estate & Distillery was one of the more unique developments in Tasmania’s recent distilling history. And if it’s history you’re after, look no further than Shene Estate. The estate was acquired by Anne and David Kernke in 2007, and they started on a mission to conserve the convict-era property.

The complex, which comprises of a homestead and stable, dates back to the earliest days of Van Diemen’s Land, and was once the residence of Gamaliel Butler, one of Tasmania’s prominent early colonists.

What’s any of this got to do with distilling? Gin bottles were among the many discoveries made by the Kernke’s during conservation (empty, alas). But that got them thinking it would be a good idea to put a distillery on the property.

A few years later, they came into contact with Damian Mackey, a Hobart distiller and town planner. Mackey had been throwing down barrels of quality triple-distilled single malt whisky since 2008 (triple-distilled as a nod to his Irish heritage). But he was making this whisky in his garage and thinking about moving to a larger site. That’s when the Kernke’s ran a proposal past him: would he like to make a gin for them, and would he like to produce his Mackey single malt whisky at their soon-to-be constructed distillery on the estate?

Mackey agreed, and got to work on Poltergeist gin (a reference to the slightly spooky vibe at Shene Estate). Mackey’s first single malt whisky release came out in mid-2015 and Poltergeist gin was launched soon after.

When Shene Distillery was completed in early 2016, production of Mackey single malt whisky was then moved from Damian’s garage to the new site.

Soon enough, David Kernke’s background in project management and logistics kicked in, and the whisky production side of the equation quickly took off. But the speed of expansion at Shene Estate took nearly everyone in the Tasmanian whisky industry by surprise.

Once larger stills were acquired and installed, production rapidly increased. Large stockpiles of ex-fortified wine barrels were purchased, new maturation rackhouses built, and the Tasmanian Tiger Cooperage was also constructed on-site.

Within three years, Shene Estate had gone from one of Tasmania’s smallest distilleries to one of its largest, with investment from Sydney property developer John Ibrahim boosting the whole endeavour (Ibrahim has also invested in Old Kempton and the new Callington Mill Distillery).

But eventually, the rapid growth and expansion became too much for Damian Mackey, and in 2018 he decided to leave the business. The Mackey single malt brand remained with the Kernke’s and Shene Estate, with Damian currently developing his own separate distillery focused on the Irish single pot still style.

Both double-distilled and triple-distilled spirit was produced at Shene and matured in Australian tawny and apera casks. Since 2018, the distillery had also been maturing and finishing large quantities of whisky in port and sherry casks as a result of relationships its developed with Spanish and Portuguese cooperages.

In March 2021, Shene launched a new whisky range featuring triple-distilled and double-distilled whisky matured in a range of Australian, Spanish and Portugese fortified wine casks.

Then in October 2021, in a move that took everyone by surprise, Lark Distilling Co acquired Shene Estate & Distillery for $40 million. The sale included Shene’s 40 acres of land and buildings, the Shene Distillery, upwards of 400,000 litres of whisky stocks, eight bond stores, a working cooperage and the historic homestead. Lark plans to spend $13 million to build a new distillery at Shene Estate, set to become the new home of Lark whisky, with a capacity to produce 1 million litres of spirit per year. The new distillery is expected to be operational in 2023.

The Shene brand has since been wound up, and whisky produced under the previous management will be folded into Lark whisky under the ‘Pontville’ title.