Where are your majority of visitors coming from? We love the diversity of our visitors, some have visited from just down the road, and others have flown internationally to get to us. On weekends we have found people are looking for new things to do, locals from around Tasmania have been dropping in to see what we have been up to; enjoying our country style kitchen, leather chesterfield couches, distillery tours and of course tastings. What’s the next big goal for the business? Our main focus at the moment is getting our new distillery built. It has been a slow process however there is no ‘how to’ book on building distilleries in Tasmania so we have had to work most of it out ourselves. Our new stills are currently being built in Derwent Park (we like to keep things local), receiving them will be very exciting. What’s the funniest thing which has happened within the business since moving to Dysart House. When we first moved into Dysart House we had heard rumours of the house being haunted and we were all on high alert for any signs of ghosts. We had been speaking with the contractors who helped renovate the property, to see if they had seen anything. Nothing. A week later our Business Manager Robbie decided to play a trick on them and snuck up on them playing the theme music from the exorcist. The look on their faces was priceless. If the state government could change three (3) things for the benefit of the industry what would you suggest they should be? Setting up an appellation to protect the Tasmanian Whisky brand is essential. Tasmanian distilleries have worked hard to gain their reputation for making some of the best whisky in the world. It is important that people claiming to produce in Tasmania are legitimate and that they are not just feeding off the popularity of Tasmanian whiskies. The TWPA (Tasmanian Whisky Producers Association) are currently working to establish an appellation which will hopefully be written into legislation. The rate of excise paid by distilleries is much higher than that of wine makers and brewers. In fact it is the highest form of excise tax in Australia. It is hard for a young, growing industry to cover these costs. It would be great to see the State Government put some pressure on the Federal Government to bring the rate of excise for distilled spirits into line with other alcoholic producers. We are also looking forward to road signage for the Tasmanian Whisky Trail being approved by the Department of State Growth. The signage will allow visitors to the state to easily find distilleries while they are travelling, similar to the signage found for wine regions.
and showcasing their spirits in our cellar door. The great thing about the Tasmanian whisky scene is that we are all friends, each distillery has their own unique character which means we are able to co- promote so together we can grow Tasmania’s whisky reputation. You run a distillery school…..wow!! Our distillery school is designed to help people who are looking to set up their own distillery. In the same way that Tasmanian distilleries support each other, we are keen to share our knowledge with up and comers. There is a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to running a distillery. We want people to have a hands-on introduction to distilling, so they understand the entire process and can see how much work (and cleaning) is involved. Our course runs for three days and includes information on wash production, distillation, barrel preparation, ATO and excise payments, production schedules and projected forecasts. We even help people apply for their own distilling licence. What plans do you have for the property? We are quickly running out of space in our bond store and distillery (set up in the old 1840’s stables) so we have started plans to build a new distillery in the paddock adjacent to Dysart House. This will allow us to increase production and meet demands. Our current set up isn’t producing enough spirit so we have ordered another two stills; 2000L and 4000L which will increase output dramatically. The most exciting part of our plans is the inclusion of a 120m2 malt floor. This will allow us to malt up to two tonnes of barley weekly. Have the awards started to roll in yet? We have only released 6 barrels over the last year or so, however we have been successful in being awarded a silver medal in the Chicago Whisky Awards 2016 for Best World Whisky. We have also won Silver in the Australian Distilled Spirits Awards in the Single Barrel Whisky category. Our unaged spirit also won an award in the same competition, winning bronze in the New Make Unaged Spirits category. How have locals embraced the business? We have been warmly welcomed by Kempton. The first things we realised is how strong the sense community was when we moved from our previous location end of last year. We have been overwhelmed with the support, so much so that we have teamed up with the Southern Midlands Council and the Greater Greenponds Regional Arts Group to celebrate the community spirit. The inaugural Artlands Exhibition was launched in September and showcases Southern Tasmanian artists with the theme of the Southern Midlands. We have received over 30 pieces, a fantastic result for our first year.
October 2016
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