In 1793, just five years after the First Fleet landed, a man named Webb crouches in a sunbaked shed in Parramatta, collecting the first dribbles of spirit to ever flow from a still in this Great Southern Land.
Distilled from some of the first grains ever eked by white hands from this harsh landscape, the intoxicating liquid that dripped from the coiled copper pipe would have been crude and strong; a blunt instrument for obliterating the harsh realities of early colonial Australia.
It was a far cry from the finely crafted, world-class spirits now produced across Australia by the thousands – from tiny craft operations to major distilleries. In recent years, bottles of Australian whisky, gin, vodka, brandy and liqueur have all been named “World’s Best” by major international competitions, and you can now find stunning examples of locally produced spirits everywhere from your local pub to the mini-bars in 5-star hotels across the country.
But despite the plethora of delicious local options, according to a 2024 report prepared by Deloitte for the Australian Distillers Association, only about 10 per cent of the unmixed (not counting RTDs) spirits consumed in Australia are produced here.
The vast majority are still imported and distributed by the major multinational beverage companies such as Diageo, Bacardi and Suntory, which dominate the global spirits business.
So why aren’t we drinking more local spirits like we do wine and beer? And where does the local spirits industry stand in 2025? As the Halliday Wine Companion embarks on our first ever foray into cataloging and reviewing Australian-made spirits, these are questions worth asking, and answering.
The beginning of Australian-made spirits
When the first European colonists set foot in Sydney Harbour over 200 years ago, their desire to blunt the realities of this harsh and alien land with booze was strong. Despite distilling being prohibited – because any agricultural produce was needed to feed both people and livestock – 1793 records show that colonist farmers were already diverting grain to make hooch.
As noted by Secretary of the Colony, David Collins, in his account of those early years: “Webb, the settler near Parramatta, having procured a small still from England, found it more advantageous to draw an ardent diabolical spirit from his wheat, than to send it to the store.”
As the colony grew, illicit distillation became increasingly popular despite harsh penalties. By the 1820s, spirits production was a sanctioned business, with legitimate distilleries operating in Sydney, Brisbane and Hobart.
Over the next 100 years, Australian spirits would grow into a major industry, from the rum produced in places like Bundaberg as a corollary to the sugar industry, to the many millions of litres of brandy produced in grape-growing regions. Australia also produced countless millions of bottles of our own whisky and gin. In fact, from the 1820s right through to the 1970s, the vast majority of the spirits consumed here were also made here.
According to spirits historian and writer Luke McCarthy: “Distilling in Australia became a formidable industry between the 1880s and 1960s. By the early 20th century, Australia was one of the world’s leading spirits-producing nations, driven by the confluence of successful agricultural production, skilled immigrant distillers, and the development of complementary industries like brewing, winemaking and sugar refining.
Protective tariffs also played a significant role in encouraging the development of the distilling industry, enabling large whisky, rum and brandy producers to compete with imported spirits.”
The decline of Australian spirits
Changes to import tariffs in the 1970s, however, as well as improvements in the efficiency of international shipping, the rise of multinational spirits conglomerates, and generational shifts away from spirits and towards beer and wine, all provided nails for the coffin of Australia’s homegrown spirits industry.
The only survivors were Bundaberg rum and a handful of hold-out brandy makers like Saint Agnes. In the era of Jack Daniel’s, Bacardi and cask wine, Aussie spirits were dead in the water.
By the end of the 1980s, Australia’s spirits industry was in the last throes of a slow death. But just as it was breathing its last boozy breath, a Tasmanian by the name of Bill Lark was ignited by the spark of inspiration.
Bill, as the story goes, after a day of fishing with his father-in-law, sat to enjoy a bottle of single malt Scotch whisky. After a couple, and maybe a couple more, Bill had an idea. Tasmania grows some of the best barley in the world, and has some of the cleanest water, two of the primary precursors of good malt whisky. It also has a mild climate, and, thanks to the wine industry, plenty of quality oak casks. So why, thought Bill, didn’t Tasmania make whisky?
After some experimentation on the kitchen table with a 50-litre hobby still, in 1992 Bill and his wife Lynn were granted the first licence to produce Tasmanian spirits since the colonial era (spirits production having been banned in Tasmania – although not on the mainland – since the 1830s). Thus, Australia’s craft spirits industry was reborn with the creation of Lark single malt whisky.
But for 20 years, no one cared. When I first encountered Lark whisky in 2013, it was still firmly in boutique territory.
The brand had no real marketing, barely a website, tiny production, and limited distribution. By then, there were about 10 distilleries in Tasmania following Bill’s lead by making small quantities of craft whisky and gin, and one or two popping up on the mainland like Melbourne’s excellent Bakery Hill whisky and The Hoochery’s rum in WA, all plodding along at a cottage industry pace and struggling to convince Australians to try local over imported brands.
It was a sort of twilight zone era for Australian spirits, the primordial ooze of fractured innovation from which a booming ecosystem would emerge.
Australian spirits make a comeback
Then, in 2014, lightning struck Australia’s craft distilling scene, raising it from the table of experimentation like Frankenstein’s monster to wreak delicious havoc on the drinkers of Australia. That jolt was the World Whiskies Awards naming Tasmania’s Sullivans Cove the World’s Best Single Malt.
Demand for Australian, and Tasmanian whisky in particular, hit the roof, and investment dollars flooded the craft whisky industry.
This was a time when the world whisky boom was in full effect as so called “unicorn” bottles of American, Scottish and Japanese whiskies were fetching eye-watering prices. Suddenly Australia was in the mix, and Aussies were finally paying attention to local spirits.
Since 2014, over 100 new distilleries have opened in Tasmania alone, from tiny craft operations to major distilleries like Callington Mill, capable of producing single malt on the scale of a commercial Scottish distillery. Brands like Lark and Sullivans Cove now sport slick luxury marketing and national distribution.
But it wasn’t just the big award in 2014 that really kicked things into gear for Aussie spirits. At the same time, three critical brands were just getting off the ground: Starward Whisky (est. 2007), Four Pillars Gin (est. 2013), and Archie Rose (est. 2014).
These were the first examples of modern Australian spirits brands built with serious investment, serious marketing and a serious business plan from day one – a far cry from the back-shed operations that typified previous efforts. The Sullivans Cove award heated the iron, and these brands struck hard while it was hot, finally gaining recognition among Aussie consumers and finding a spot on the shelf at your local.
Where does this all leave us in 2025?
Aussie spirits are now being made by the first generation of young producers who have serious distilling knowledge and experience under their belts, having learned from the trial and error of older distillers and combining that knowledge with dedicated professionalism and study of international standards, as well as the dollars to do it right. Lisa Truscott is one such distiller, whose experience includes some of Australia’s most successful brands.
“Aussie producers have worked on different principles compared to the large international beverage companies by championing local Australian ingredients and creating new kinds of products,” says Truscott.
As well as stunning local versions of traditional spirits like whisky and gin, “the Australian spirits industry has also made a global impact with products like Mr Black coffee liqueur and Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz gin that break down traditional categories,” she says.
Aussie spirits, like a lot of things we do, really are unique in the world. Gins infused with native botanicals like lemon myrtle and pepperberry found nowhere else on earth are the most prolific example, but Australia is also making its mark on the spirits world in more subtle and interesting ways – from native timbers being used for smoking and maturing whiskies at Archie Rose to hyper local yeast strains helping to ferment rums at Burdekin Rum.
In recent years, we’ve also seen local fruit turned into outstanding liqueurs by Marionette, the flavours of Australia’s arid terroir in the rye whiskies of The Gospel, the protection of native rainforest by the folks at Brookie’s, and good old-fashioned Australian silliness with products like the (absolutely delicious) pavlova-flavoured vodka by Old Young’s.
The ongoing issues still faced by the industry
Despite all these incredible products, Australia’s spirits producers are also facing serious challenges. The cost-of-living struggles faced by Aussies in recent years have made us less likely to splash out on the new and innovative, combined with increased input costs and a heavy tax burden on spirits (Australia has some of the highest spirits taxes in the world), it’s been a tough few years for local booze.
Pricing is still the biggest challenge, as Australia’s generally small and independent producers struggle to compete with the multi-million dollar marketing budgets and economies of scale of imported brands.
But all emerging industries face their challenges. And as a new generation of Aussie drinkers becomes the driving force behind sales, we’re seeing much more willingness to try new things, and much less loyalty to imported brands than in previous years.
Australian spirits deserve as much love as local wine and beer
In 2025, the quality, consistency and variety of Australian made spirits is nothing short of astounding.
From gin, whisky and rum, to grappa, schnapps and amaro, there’s a galaxy of homegrown flavour and creativity distilled for our drinking pleasure.
Australia’s incredible geographical and cultural diversity, our unique ingredients and landscapes, and our penchant for do-it-yourself creatively and non-conformity have made our local distilling industry among the most vibrant in the world.
In the long run, Australia will learn to love our local spirits as we have with wine and beer, and it’s a story we’re thrilled to tell.
