The Story

If there’s a more stunning part of the world to make whisky in, I’m not sure we know about it. Cam and Suzy Brett understood this well when they aimed to turn their passion for single malt whisky into a synthesis of Spring Beach. The town is located a little over an hour from Hobart on the east coast of Tasmania, a place the Brett’s have frequented and lived in for almost two decades.

The couple had closely followed the progression of the Tasmania whisky industry, and when they decided to take the plunge and open their own operation, they first attended the Redlands distilling course and then travelled to Scotland for more research. Over 15 days in Scotland, they visited 23 coastal whisky distilleries to give them a firmer idea of the style of spirit they were interested in developing.

The Springbank Distillery became one of their primary sources of inspiration, with the pair wanting to achieve a similar maritime influence, something that spoke to their location on the coast.

They got to work on that idea in 2015 when the distillery came to life. Initially, a high quality gin and vodka were released while the whisky matured, and the first Spring Bay single malts were then released in 2017. The whiskies instantly won fans for their distinctiveness and subtlety, especially the tropical, coastal Bourbon Cask offering, which has remained one of the distillery’s most highly regarded and sought-after expressions.

The distillery’s seaside location is something the Brett’s try to infuse into their whiskies. The site is a mere 500 metres from one of the most picturesque beaches in Tasmania, and owing to the location, mashing and fermentation were begun offsite, with a specially designed wash trucked to the distillery for whisky making.

In recent times, Spring Bay’s wash and spirit runs have also been performed in different locations, which is highly unique in the world of single malt whisky. In essence, that distinctive ‘east coast’ character is achieved in the final, albeit, very important phases of the process, namely maturation and dilution. All of Spring Bay whiskies are diluted with rain water captured at the distillery site, and Cam and Suzy believe this adds a saline, sea spray flavour to their whiskies (comparative taste tests are surprisingly convincing).

A second distillery site in Cambridge closer to Hobart has helped to increase production, and Dean Jackson, the experienced former Redlands/Old Kempton distiller, is now spearheading production.

The core Spring Bay whiskies are the Bourbon Cask, Sherry Cask and Port Cask bottlings, predominately released as single casks. ‘The Rheban’ series gives consumers a taste of the core range at cask strength, and limited bottlings include whiskies matured in ex-chardonnay, rum and cabernet sauvignon casks. Pinot and shiraz casks have also been filled.

The distillery has rapidly developed into one of Tasmania’s most impressive small-scale operations, and if you’re ever in the area, we highly recommend popping in for a taste of Spring Bay.