Review: Tasmania Tonic Water Company range

Parallel to the emergence of hundreds of spirit brands in the recent years in Australia has been the introduction of ingredients to complement them. These might be bitters, vermouth, or tonic waters. In the case of the latter, there are two styles available on the market, the well known clear, carbonated style where you simply

Review: McHenry Federation Gin

Australia has been a Federation made up of several States and Territories since 1901. Like most unions of this sort, Federation usually involves a lot of compromise. We’re a big country (the size of the USA basically) with a small population (25 million) and very diverse landscapes and climate. So when Tasmanian distillery, McHenry and

Review: Dasher + Fisher Gins

If you’ve travelled across Bass Strait to Tasmania from Melbourne you’ll know that you hop off/on at Devonport on the island’s northern shore. Usually, once off the ferry folks make a beeline for the charms of that beautiful place, they rarely linger in the town itself. Well, thanks to the team at Southern Wild Distillery,

Review: Fire Drum Vodka

Vodka has an image problem. This cultural icon that emerged out of necessity from the Slavic soul in the cold and bleakness of a harsh life gave hope, or eased the sorrows of a life we can’t imagine. So now, we have triple, five times distilled with scantily clad women draped just so…. images of shallowness,

Review: The Retiring Gin

One night I wandered into a bar. But not just any bar, but the pioneering and all round good time place, Bad Frankies in Fitzroy Melbourne. This was the first place in Australia to stock exclusively all Aussie products across the board. So generally I’m pretty plugged into the craft spirit scene, but when in doubt I’d

Review: Hobart No.4 Gin

When award winning expert Single Malt distillers turned their minds to crafting a gin you can expect a singular spirt. Tasmania Distillery, who produces Hobart No. 4 Gin are the team who create the world’s best Single Malt Whisky, Sullivans Cove. I’ve heard cynics say that making a gin is a good business strategy to

Review: Nonesuch Distillery Dry Gin

2015 was a vintage year for Australian gins with over 25 new labels released from new or existing distilleries. A record for Australia I think. As I’ve surveyed these gin releases I’ve been struck by three things: There is a real spirit of supportive collaboration between makers, they understand that all boats can rise together Whilst

Review: Forty Spotted Gin Summer Release

Its reassuring to know that you can match your gin to the seasons. Beyond the main styles of gin such as London Dry, Old Tom, Sloe, Aged etc, there is also a newish sub-category of gin that I’ll dub ‘Seasonal Gins’. The idea is that they are a variation on the main gin product for

Review: Nonesuch Distillery Sloe Gin

At the time of writing this, my part of the country is enjoy weather courtesy of Antarctica. So it was perfect timing that I was sent a bottle of this new release from Nonesuch Distillery in South East Tasmania of their first product, Sloe Gin. This style of gin is a very old variety, and

Review: Forty Spotted Gin

I reckon 2015 will go down as a vintage year for new Australian gin releases. The momentum for new (see list here) labels from around the country shows no sign of slowing down as new players and existing ones take advantage of the moment. As I discussed in my recent post on World Gin Day,

Review: McHenry Classic Dry Gin

From Tasmania comes a new Gin using Tasmania purity and the skill of distiller William McHenry. In my ongoing survey of Australian Gins, whilst I applauded the bold use of native botanicals  + flavours in most brands as part of the New World genre of Gin, I always thought there was an opportunity in the market

The 10 Must Have Gins for Home

Now, this is obviously going to be a subjective exercise, we all have our favourites, and some have deeper pockets than others, but here’s my list of what I have on regular rotation that covers 90% of my Martini drinking scenarios. The list also covers the key bases of the modern London Dry style experience, so