The Story
Based in the Hobart suburb of Moonah, Taylor & Smith Distilling Co. is run by owners Natalie Smith and Ben Taylor, who’ve been distilling out of a converted shed on their property since 2017.
Both Natalie and Ben work in the arts – Ben a painter, Natalie a writer. But a number of years ago, they caught the distilling bug that’s spread across Tasmania.
When they first started distilling on their property, the pair would take small jam jars of gin and other spirits and leave them on their neighbours doorstep. In return, the neighbours would offer up feedback and encouragement in the form of fresh lemons, quinces, cumquats and other botanicals that would then be feed back into their next batches of gin.
But whisky was always one of the main the goals for the pair. To get started, Ben self-built a 400 litre copper pot still. Uniquely, it’s direct-fired, a la Belgrove and Black Gate distilleries, with the intense heat on the pot helping to caramelise sugars in the wash.
To create Taylor & Smith’s malt spirit, Tasmanian barley is milled, mashed and fermented onsite, the latter with a unique yeast profile. Since March 2018, spirit has been filled into a range of casks, all re-coopered in Tasmania, including ex-apera, tawny, Bourbon, pedro ximenez, pinot noir and Australian dessert wine casks.
Taylor & Smith Gin was launched via a Pozible campaign in December 2018, while the first whisky release came online in October 2020. Seven 20 litre casks made up the first release, with 210 bottles available to the public.
‘It was always going to be single cask releases initially,’ says Natalie Smith. ‘We do plan to blend down the track. But I guess when you’re a new distillery and you’re starting from scratch, you need to find out what sort of new make your barley and your yeast and your water, your combination, is going to create, and then you can see which barrels it responds to best.’
The quality and execution of Taylor & Smith’s branding and visual design is also notable. The initial whisky release featured endorsements from prominent Tasmanian chefs and writers, while MONA artists Jesse Hunniford and Megan Perkins were responsible for curating the photography.
Further whisky releases are slated for 2021, where the collaborations with Tasmanian writers and artists will continue.