The Story
Thebarton Distillery was one of South Australia’s most significant early distilleries. First constructed in 1892 on the banks of the River Torrens, the distillery signalled the expansion of the South Australian spirits industry at a time when brandy, whisky and gin making were being explored by the colony’s winemakers and spirit merchants.
The distillery was built in Southwark, now the suburb of Thebarton, on the eastern side of Stirling Street near its intersection with Anderson Street. The area was home to several breweries, the most prominent being the Torrenside Brewery adjacent to the distillery (later Walkerville brewery), which became the eventual home of the iconic West End Brewery at 107 Port Road.
Thebarton Distilling Company, the original founders, built the site to produce rectified spirits from local grain for blending purposes. Thebarton’s continuous copper column, built in Adelaide with imported parts from Germany, was over eight metres tall and capable of producing around 1000 litres of rectified spirit a day. But as surplus grapes and wine from surrounding regions become more abundant in the mid-1890s, the production of brandy and rectifying spirit for fortified wines started to take precedence.
In 1897, the distillery was acquired by Milne & Co, one of Adelaide’s leading family firms. Milne & Co was founded in Adelaide in 1846 by Glaswegian Sir William Milne, a prominent wine and spirit merchant who eventually moved into politics. When entering the House of Assembly in 1857, Sir William disposed of his interest in the business and the name was later carried on by his sons William Jnr and George Milne through partnerships and premise changes.
A giant 10,000 litre pot still built by A. Bergstrom, a Swede who was the region’s top stillmaker at the time, was later added to the distillery. By 1906, brandy, whisky, rum and gin were being produced at Thebarton, and the distillery comprised of six spirit stores and 27 oak vats of 4500 litres in capacity.
In 1915, Milne & Co purchased the Adelaide Wine Company’s distillery in Coonawarra (now Wynns Coonawarra Estate) to compete with the rapidly growing brandy and spirits offerings from the likes of Château Tanunda, Thomas Hardy & Sons and Tolley, Scott & Tolley. Milne’s spirits, particular brandy, continued to sell well into the 1920s, but the Australian whisky trade was advancing at pace.
Scottish blended whisky was still the dominant article at the time, and the only significant local competition was Melbourne’s Federal Distilleries, an amalgamation of four Victorian malt whisky distillers. Federal developed a market leading blended malt with Old Court Whisky in the mid-1920s, and international firms eyed off the growing Australian market with whisky consumption soaring.
Brandy sales, on the other hand, started to soften. Milne & Co threw more energy behind its Milne’s Whisky brand as a result. This whisky fared particularly well in major wine shows at the time, winning the whisky section of the prestigious Melbourne Royal Show awards four years in a row from 1931 to 1934. On the back of this success, Milne & Co introduced their own ‘Milne’s Australian Standard Malt Whisky’, produced following the strict regulations set down by the Spirits Act 1906.
Market leader Federal Distilleries then merged with international behemoth Distillers Company Ltd (DCL) in 1930. DCL’s only remaining significant rival in Australia became W&A Gilbey. Gilbey’s had maintained a strong presence in the trade since the late 1800s, and to dodge high Australian import tariffs the London-based firm built Gilbey’s Distillery in Melbourne in 1937. To further shore up their supply of local spirits, Gilbey’s then acquired Milne & Co and its Thebarton Distillery in 1946, exactly 100 years after the family business had been founded in Adelaide on Hindley Street.
Distillation progressed at Thebarton throughout the 1950s and 60s, and the Milne’s name continued to be used by Gilbey’s, principally in South Australia. Gilbey’s released several popular Australian blends including Bond 7 and Gilt Edge, and the firm found success in South Australia with Milne’s Well Matured and Specially Selected Whisky, a blend of Thebarton malt whisky and Gilbey’s grain whisky from Melbourne. Bottles of this blend have recently surfaced unopened after several decades.
Records indicate the distillery in Thebarton continued producing spirits up until the late 1960s. But with the significant expansion of Gilbey’s Moorabbin site in Melbourne and the growing preference for lighter style blended whiskies, distilling at the site soon ceased.
Gilbey’s sold the distillery site at Thebarton in 1973 and it was subsequently repurposed. The University of Adelaide later converted what was left of the distillery buildings, none of which are heritage listed, in the 1980s and 1990s, and the site is now occupied by a range of different businesses.
Present-day site
References:
Andrewartha, J and G. Grainger. From Wadni to Whisky: Food and Beverage Production in West Torrens. Adelaide: West Torrens Historical Society, 2022.
Bishop, Geoffrey C. and Donald A. Ross. Chateau Tanunda Icon of the Barossa: Winemakers Since 1890. GC Bishop & Associates, 2018.
Burgess, H.T. The cyclopedia of South Australia in two volumes: an historical and commercial review, descriptive and biographical, facts, figures, and illustrations: an epitome of progress. Adelaide: The Cyclopedia Company, 1907-1909.
Deutsher, Keith M. The Breweries of Australia: A history. Glebe: Beer and Brewer Media, 2014
Payne, Pauline. Thebarton: Old and New. Adelaide: Thebarton City Council, 1996.