Photo – Alastair Bett Photography
My Tasmanian Whisky Week started with a drive from Launceston airport to Burnie. I took a road that heads north along the Tamar River, passing wineries and sleepy pockets of outer Launceston, and stopped in at Turner Stillhouse. When I opened the car door, cold fresh air rushed in at me. Quiet, calm, birds chirping, sunlight twinkling on the Tamar in the distance. The grind of Melbourne, the big city bustle and traffic, was a distant memory as I walked towards the cellar door, Turner Stillhouse to one side, Tamar Ridge Wines to the other.
Since first attending Tasmanian Whisky Week in 2017, a year after the first iteration, I’ve nearly always started my trip in the north. You forget how big Tasmania is during a week like this, and with 80-plus distilleries now operating, most making whisky, and 40 distilleries involved in Tas Whisky Week 2023, there’s a lot to see.
Turner Stillhouse – Oz Whisky Review
The northern distillers
My visit to Turner Stillhouse was only brief. The brand was founded by Justin Turner in 2017, with whisky production coming online in 2020. Turner hails from the US, so American-style corn and rye whiskies are being produced alongside single malt whisky. The first release of the latter is set to land towards the end of this year, but I was most excited by Turner’s corn and rye whiskies – the emergence of these styles is a clear change-up from where Tasmanian whisky has come from.
But my week officially started in Burnie at a whisky masterclass held at The Chapel. Most of the distilleries presenting at this tasting were based in the north – Hellyers Road, Launceston Distillery and IronHouse Brewery & Distillery the most well-known among them. As I walked into The Chapel, a restored 1890s Methodist church that’s been re-purposed into one of Burnie’s most popular cafe restaurants, a small, welcoming crowd were seated around a table with several distillers milling about the room.
Newly established producers including the Bogan Road, Deviant and King Island distilleries were also presenting first releases and previews of their whisky programs. Before long, I was chatting to locals about whisky and life in Burnie, which pubs and breweries to try, local Communion Brewing Co ales flowing.
It’s these intimate whisky tastings and dinners that Tasmanian Whisky Week does so well. You get up close and personal to the makers themselves while enjoying incredible Tassie produce – the dining scene down there is so strong these days. And when you get to events, like this one, held in smaller regional centres, you see how proud communities are of their local producers.
Whisky Masterclass at The Chapel, Burnie – Oz Whisky Review
The next morning, after a soul-warming breakfast back at The Chapel, I headed to Hellyers Road Distillery. For me, Hellyers is one of Tasmania’s most underrated whisky producers. The Australian indifference to their whiskies has long had me puzzled. That indifference is even more bizarre when you consider how highly regarded the distillery is internationally. Serge Valentin, one of the world’s most respected and experienced whisky tasters, has been waxing lyrical about Hellyers Road single malt for years, while Whisky Magazine editor-at-large Christopher Coates only recently heaped praise on Hellyers’ distinctive spirit style.
With Launceston Distillery now releasing exceptional, well-matured single malts, and Adams Distillery, IronHouse and Waubs Harbour right there with them, the north is developing into a whisky force to be reckoned with.
The highly unique set-up at Hellyers Road Distillery, including their 60,000 litre wash still – Oz Whisky Review
The midlands
After Hellyers, it was time to head south. You’ve now got a tricky decision to make when you’re heading south in Tasmania. You can either take the eastern coastal route and visit IronHouse and Waubs Harbour, or you can take the Midland Highway and pop into Adams Distillery, Callington Mill, Old Kempton and then Lark as you approach Hobart.
I took the latter route. First stop was Callington Mill for a bite to eat in the schmick restaurant and cellar door. This was my second visit to Callington and I was even more blown away by the design and execution of the place this time around. Highly recommend a visit.
Before long, I’d reached Hobart and was I straight into the Founding Distilleries dinner at Tesoro in the CBD. The founders dinner is always one of the most popular events during Tas Whisky Week, and this year you got a real sense of how these older, more established distilleries are distinguishing themselves from the rest of the pack.
The whiskies on pour from Sullivans Cove, Overeem and Hellyers, including a sneak peak of the soon-to-be-released Hellyers 21 year old ex-Bourbon cask, showed why they’re leading the Tasmanian whisky charge at the moment. Lark are also moving into a calmer, more measured trajectory with a solid core range (I still love Lark Classic Cask) and a less scattergun approach to limited bottlings.
Callington Mill Distillery – Oz Whisky Review
Hobart and surrounds
Another early start the next day and onto the Peppermint Bay Distillers Cruise. I’d never been on the Distillers Cruise before, and with late night wines lingering, courtesy of Sonny, a must visit for vino lovers, I was thankful for the sea air.
After a 45 minute trip up the Derwent River, we then sat down to a long table lunch at Peppermint Bay Hotel, seven whiskies paired with a four course lunch. More exceptional Tassie produce, with slow-roasted lamb shoulder starring, and then the whiskies.
Lower Marsh, 7K and Battery Point impressed here. Lower Marsh has a great story to tell. An entirely paddock-to-bottle distillery, Lower Marsh founders Steve Knight and Corey Hazelwood have built-up the operation by hand, and their whiskies are continuing to develop and improve with each release.
7K and Battery Point are definitely a part of the newer, keen-to-innovate brigade. Battery Point distillery manager Luke Lawrence has a range of creative whiskies in the pipeline (look out for them in the next few months). While 7K Distillery’s Port To Espresso Martini Cask whisky was a highlight – it drew a smile from most who tasted it, and that’s a big win.
Peppermint Bay Distillers Cruise – Oz Whisky Review
The bars and pubs
Naturally, I hit some bars that night with the Whisky & Alement crew who were in town. Gold Bar and Society Salamanca are still two of my favourites, with great selections of Tasmanian whisky and spirits and personable, attentive bartenders. But you can’t go past Hobart’s pubs for drinking glory, and the New Sydney Hotel, Tom McHugo’s and The Winston are about as good as Australian pubs get.
After we’d finished at The Winston, we popped around the corner to Overland Brewers & Distillers, for me, one of the most fascinating new producers I encountered on the trip.
They’ve just released a very limited run of single malt, with proceeds from five of the ten bottles available going to charity. But Overland’s smartly designed Bar & Taproom is well worth a look, with brewing happening on site and their Vendome copper pot stills sitting adjacent the bar. They’ll eventually be releasing both single malt and American-style whiskies – they’ve already got a Rye Malt Whisky on pour – and I’m super keen to see what the eventual offering looks like.
Photo – Overland Brewers & Distillers
A quick detour – Greenbanks Distilling Co.
The next morning, I’ll admit, I was pretty exhausted. But that quickly subsided when I arrived at the scene of what’s set to become one of the biggest stories in Tasmanian whisky in a long time.
Greenbanks Distilling Co., a new contract distilling operation north of Hobart, will start production later this year. It’s bound to shake up the Tasmanian scene. I met with Greenbanks founders John Slattery, Hugh Roxburgh and Tim Salt at the new site and it’s hard not to be impressed by what they’ve got coming online.
Using both Vendome pot and column stills, the latter a massive 24-inch continuous copper column, Greenbanks are aiming to create a range of contract whiskies for a diverse client base and also produce their own widely available Tasmanian whisky brands.
Greenbanks Distilling Co., the Vendome 24-inch copper column still and founders John Slattery, Tim Salt and Hugh Roxburgh – Oz Whisky Review
Supposedly, Tasmania is producing around 2 million litres of spirit annually at the moment, an unverified figure, but one I’ve heard multiple industry stalwarts reference. When Greenbanks is fully up and running and into their second phase of development, they’ll have the capacity to produce around 100 barrels a day – that would be close to matching the entire output of Tasmania’s whisky industry at present, so it’s a serious development.
I’ll have more on the Greenbanks story later in the year when they start production, but needless to say, it’s one to stay across.
The Tasmanian Spirit Showcase
Tasmanian Spirit Showcase – Alastair Bett Photography
Following the Greenbanks visit, it was time for the finale, The Tasmanian Spirit Showcase. Held this year at The Princes Wharf 1, right on the waterfront in Salamanca Bay, 30 distillers from right across Tasmania presented their whiskies over two sessions.
This was one of the more relaxed and well organised showcase events I’ve attended in a while. The location was comfortable, the numbers were good, the broader food and drink offering was solid, and there were a stack of new whiskies to try (reviews here).
The takeaways
You can probably tell that I’m a fan of Tasmanian Whisky Week. It’s certainly been a bumpy ride since the festival was first introduced in 2016, particularly with COVID-19 shutting things down just as it was starting to find its feet. But every year the offering improves.
‘Considering the economic situation at the moment, the numbers that we had through this year were fantastic,’ said Cam Brett, co-founder of Spring Bay Distillery and president of The Tasmanian Whisky & Spirits Association. ‘We’re seeing this growth in interstate and international visitors as well, which is really positive.’
Cam and Suzy Brett and Jack Sellers from Spring Bay Distillery – Alastair Bett Photography
It’s staggering to think back to it now, but when I first attended in 2017 barely a dozen producers had whisky to pour. Now, there’s a huge array of whiskies to get around, with Tasmania producing a version of almost every international whisky style.
‘There’s two really positive things for me that I’ve seen develop in the last five years,’ says Brett. ‘One has come come with the increase in volume. We’re seeing a reduction in the price of Tasmanian whisky and I think that’s good for our industry as it gets people drinking Tasmanian single malt whisky and helps to build the category.’
‘The second one is, we’ve always been criticised for having too similar a flavour profile with our whiskies. I think that’s part and parcel of having an industry that’s young. There’s safety in following certain successful predecessors.
‘But now I think our industry’s got the confidence to try new things and develop new flavours. All of these participants I see coming on have got something different to offer, so we’re getting a greater diversity of whiskies in flavour and style and at different price points. So I think, as a category, we’re in a very good place.’
I can’t disagree with Brett there. Whether you’re a Tasmanian whisky lover or still sceptical of the value of the offering (I see you), there’s genuine progress and change occurring across the industry down there. With even more producers set to enter the market in coming years, and established distilleries continuing to refine their offering, soon you’ll need more than a week to experience the best of what Tasmanian whisky has to offer.
Disclosure: Thanks to The Tasmanian Whisky & Spirits Association for assisting with my travel to Tasmania.
