Australian Gin & Distilleries in Australia
On This Page: Australian Gin and Distillery directory, reviews and tasting notes, distillery tours in Australia, interviews with Australian distillers, and industry insights with JP Willigenburg, Founder of That Spirited Lot in Melbourne, and Luke Ridden, Co-Founder of Grandad Jack's Craft Distillery in Queensland.
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Despite being relatively young in the gin world, Australian gins are making a serious name for themselves in the industry. With access to some incredible native botanicals like pepperberries and lemon myrtle, Australian gins have carved out an impressively strong identity in a short space of time. Distilleries like Four Pillars near Melbourne and Manly Spirits in Sydney are already hugely popular amongst gin drinkers across the world, with many up and coming distilleries following suit.
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Australian Gin Reviews - A to Z
- Four Pillars Gin - Info & Review | Garnish: Orange or Grapefruit
- Granddad Jack's Greenhouse Gin - Info & Review | Garnish: Red Grapefruit and Cucumber
- Grandad Jack's Two Pencils Gin - Info & Review | Garnish: Cucumber or Juniper Berries
- Kalki Moon Classic Gin - Info & Review | Lemon & Cardamom Pods
- Kalki Moon Premium Gin - Info & Review | Garnish: Orange Peel and/or a Cinnamon Stick
- Manly Spirits Australian Dry - Info & Review | Garnish: Orange
- Manly Spirits Coastal Citrus Gin - Info & Review | Garnish: Orange or Lemon
- Manly Spirits Lilly Pilly Pink Gin - Info & Review | Garnish: Pink Grapefruit or Raspberries
- Tattering Springs Australian Botanical Gin - Info & Review | Garnish: Kohlrabi, Celery, Radish, Lemon or Thyme
- That Spirited Lot Hawker Market Gin - Info & Review | Garnish: Fresh Lime and/or Mint - TGG Awards - Winner 2021
- That Spirited Lot Ninch Dry Gin - Info & Review | Garnish: Pink Grapefruit and/or Sage
- Underground Spirits Gin - Info & Review | Garnish: Garnish: Grapefruit Orange or Lemon
- Wolf Lane Tropical Gin - Info & Review | Garnish: Grapefruit
For more Australian gins, try Ink Gin, Ironbark Wattleseed Gin, Brookie's Byron Dry Gin, Never Never Triple Juniper Gin, The West Winds Gin, Hobart No.4 Gin, Ginnifer Golden Gin.
AUSTRALIAN GIN FACTS!
- The first dedicated gin distillery in Australia was Kangaroo Island Spirits and opened up in 2006.
- Every year Australian Gin Day is celebrated in November.
- That Spirited Lot Distillers' 'Vintage on the Ninch' Gin was named 'Best in Australia 2022' in The Gin Guide Awards.
Distilleries & Tours in Australia
Many distilleries in Australia are open to visitors for tours and tastings, or have a 'cellar door' to buy from them directly. They make for the ideal experience for gin lovers living in or visiting Australia:
- Anther Spirits - Geelong
- Bass and Flinders Distillery - Dromana
- Big River Distilling Company - Canberra
- Big Tree Distillery - Nr Kyneton
- Four Pillars Gin - Nr Melbourne
- Granddad Jack's Craft Distillery - Queensland
- High Spirits Distillery - Perth
- Imperial Measures Distillery - Adelaide
- Kalki Moon Distilling - Bundaberg
- Karu Distillery - Grose Vale
- Little Lon Distilling Co. - Melbourne
- Manly Spirits Co Distillery - Sydney
- Moontide Distillery - Kimberley
- Never Never Distilling Company - McLaren Vale
- North of Eden - Nr Bega
- Old Kempton Distillery - Kempton
- Patient Wolf Distillery - Melbourne
- That Spirited Lot Distillers - Seaford, nr Melbourne
- The Farmers Wife Distillery - Allworth
Meet the Makers
Get to know some of Australia's finest gin creators and distillers in our 'Meet the Maker' interviews. Find out what inspired them and how they created and launched their gin, how it's made, what botanicals are used, what you can experience if you visit their distilleries, how best to serve their gins and what they have planned for the future:
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The Inside Scoop
We caught up with JP Willigenburg - Founder of That Spirited Lot in Melbourne, Luke Ridden - Co-Founder of Granddad Jack's Craft Distillery in Queensland, Sean Baxter of Never Never Distillery in McLaren Vale, and Diane Stewart of Black Cat Distillery in Barossa Valley, to find out what makes Australian Gin special and how the industry has grown in recent years:
A little bit of background...
Luke: "Australia has a pretty cool history of gin. It’s only in the last decade that it’s exploded, with a lot of distilleries in Tasmania and spreading from there with a good batch of really passionate, wonderful people."
Sean: "In Australia we have always been a melting pot of culture and style. You can find it in food, sport, religion, architecture and now the spirits industry. We make whisky like the Scots, brandy like the French, Rum like the West Indies and Gin like the Poms. Within all of these various styles we bring our own creative interpretations, often dictated by our distance from traditional ingredients or the prosperity of local alternatives. No other spirit has seen that influence than the gin industry."
What's behind the rapid growth in recent years?
Luke: "I think gin is doing so well in Australia because people are really taking advantage of all the amazing Australian botanicals we’ve got and different fruits, like bush tomato, Davidson's plum and lemon myrtle. People are really trying to use what is local to them and that’s what makes Australian gins different and popular."
Diane: "Australian's typically like to 'have a go' at almost anything, so re-working traditional flavours to create their own version is becoming a national sport!"
What impact does environment play on gin and what makes it so special?
JP: "We are very fortunate to live in a wine producing region (Mornington Peninsula), giving us access to a lot of wine to produce soft, quality neutral spirits" Australian."
Diane: "Australian distillers can take advantage of the unique botanicals found in the landscape which impart flavours that can't be replicated elsewhere. For example, our favourite new thing is the Tasmanian Pepper Berry and we have revised all our blends to substitute this delicate, flinty and resinous pepper for the traditional peppers we were able to source early on."
For more insights into the Australian Gin industry, read our full "The Australian Gin Industry - Distiller Insights"
A little bit of background...
Luke: "Australia has a pretty cool history of gin. It’s only in the last decade that it’s exploded, with a lot of distilleries in Tasmania and spreading from there with a good batch of really passionate, wonderful people."
Sean: "In Australia we have always been a melting pot of culture and style. You can find it in food, sport, religion, architecture and now the spirits industry. We make whisky like the Scots, brandy like the French, Rum like the West Indies and Gin like the Poms. Within all of these various styles we bring our own creative interpretations, often dictated by our distance from traditional ingredients or the prosperity of local alternatives. No other spirit has seen that influence than the gin industry."
What's behind the rapid growth in recent years?
Luke: "I think gin is doing so well in Australia because people are really taking advantage of all the amazing Australian botanicals we’ve got and different fruits, like bush tomato, Davidson's plum and lemon myrtle. People are really trying to use what is local to them and that’s what makes Australian gins different and popular."
Diane: "Australian's typically like to 'have a go' at almost anything, so re-working traditional flavours to create their own version is becoming a national sport!"
What impact does environment play on gin and what makes it so special?
JP: "We are very fortunate to live in a wine producing region (Mornington Peninsula), giving us access to a lot of wine to produce soft, quality neutral spirits" Australian."
Diane: "Australian distillers can take advantage of the unique botanicals found in the landscape which impart flavours that can't be replicated elsewhere. For example, our favourite new thing is the Tasmanian Pepper Berry and we have revised all our blends to substitute this delicate, flinty and resinous pepper for the traditional peppers we were able to source early on."
For more insights into the Australian Gin industry, read our full "The Australian Gin Industry - Distiller Insights"
