Meet our collabs!

Aubrey was born in the Bayside suburbs of Melbourne in 2020 with a simple idea: high quality Australian liqueurs that belong in a proper cocktail. The range leans into local fruit, think passionfruit, lychee, mango and a triple sec, all built on Australian grain spirit. All natural, low sugar, no nasties, and already picking up national and international awards. For the collab we went somewhere a little unexpected with the Bitters Buzz. Aubrey’s coffee liqueur meets bright citrus and soda, with our bitters adding a savoury edge. Coffee and soda sounds odd until you taste it on a hot weekend, then it just makes sense. Aubrey keeps things clean and honest, more of the stuff you love and none of the stuff you don’t. That is an easy thing to get behind.

Australian Distilling Co. is all about the moments that make this place tick: a gin and tonic in a Melbourne laneway, a martini above Bondi, a negroni against an Adelaide vineyard. Their range maps the country, with city gins from Fremantle to Sydney plus vodka and a single malt whisky, and they have the trophies to back the claim of Australia’s most awarded distillery. They have even taken their gin to altitude with Qantas. We worked their gin into two warm weather drinks. The Summer Haze is smoky, light and refreshing, the sort of thing to whet the appetite. The Convict Cooler is fruitier and built to cool a convict down on a hot day, gin and bitters doing exactly what they should. Two outfits chasing the same thing here: a properly good Australian drink, no fuss. Easy partners.

Big Tree Distillery sits on Jack’s Springs Farm in the Macedon Ranges, about an hour from Melbourne. It is the work of Catherine and Gary, a gin loving couple who liked good gin enough to start making their own. Many of the botanicals come straight off the farm, and there is a tasting room for Sunday sessions and the odd pop up when the weather plays along. Their Elegant Dry Gin is the base for the Pink Sheila, a playful take on the White Lady that comes out fresh, bright and citrusy. A drink that does not take itself too seriously, which suits the people behind it. Two small Aussie makers doing things by hand and by feel. When the gin is this honest, our bitters just have to stay out of the way and add a little lift.

The Blue Mountains Gin Company is run by people who have called Katoomba home for more than thirty years, and the gin tastes like it. The spirits draw on the World Heritage mountains right on the doorstep. Their Factory Bar on Whitton Street is a proper night out too, with live music on weekends, cocktail classes, distillery tours, a courtyard fire pit, dogs welcome and a bar food menu worth lingering over. Their Mountain Devil Classic Gin sits at the heart of the Mountinez, our smooth and dry spin on the Martinez. One sip and you are halfway up the escarpment. This one works because it is rooted in a place. Locals making mountain gin, us adding a bit of aromatic depth. A good fit.

Callington Mill Distillery is built around a restored heritage windmill precinct in Oatlands, Tasmania, and it has grown into one of the island’s serious whisky names, with the writer Charles MacLean calling it the start of a revolution in Australian whisky. The story began when John Ibrahim bought Dysart House in Kempton and crossed paths with Bill Lark, the godfather of Tasmanian whisky. You can drink the results at their Oatlands home and at the Hobart House of Whisky inside MACq 01. For the collab we leaned on their Poltergeist Gin to build the Negroni Down Under, an all Australian negroni that is orange led, bittersweet and dangerously easy to sip. Heritage, patience and a respect for time. That is a distillery after our own heart, and a natural home for a bittersweet pour.

Don Giovanni is a Melbourne maker of small batch Italian style liqueurs and gin. It started with a family friend named Teresa, whose home made Limoncello was so good that Umberto’s son set out to make a version worth sharing beyond the kitchen table. The range now runs to Limoncello, Mandarino, Blood Orange and a Classic Gin, and the trophy shelf keeps filling up, including Australia Limoncello of the Year 2024. Together we built the Italian Convict, a bright Australian spin on the Scofflaw that lands right between sweet and tart. Don Giovanni’s citrus liqueur does the heavy lifting and a dash of our bitters ties it off. It is the kind of drink you make on a warm afternoon and then make again. What we love here is the obsession. Countless trips to Southern Italy to get one Limoncello right is our kind of stubborn. Good company for a bottle of bitters.

Flowstate Brewers and Distillers comes out of Torquay on the Great Ocean Road, where the Bridges brothers Shaun and Leigh brought together backgrounds in building, brewing and horticulture to make award winning spirits. Their cellar door pours cocktails to a friendly, coastal crowd, and the gin has a clear botanical streak running through it. We built two drinks together. The Vietnamese Coffee is sweet and rich with a hint of cinnamon off their Craft Gin. The Aged Martinez is the showpiece, layering Flowstate Oaked and Smoked Gin and Lock 4 Barrel Aged Grappa with our Convict Aromatic Bitters into something smooth, funky and dry, with more depth than the original. Two makers who like to push a little further than they need to. That is exactly the sort of curiosity our bitters were built for.

Ginny Pig Distillery is the work of Bec and Craig, two former nurses who swapped scrubs for stills and never looked back. Six years on they are an internationally awarded South Australian distillery, with a brand new distillery door in Mt Compass, fifteen minutes from McLaren Vale, where you can settle in for a gin flight, a cocktail or a graze board while the copper stills bubble away. Their Botanic Gin took Double Gold at the 2024 San Francisco World Spirits Awards. That same Botanic Gin leads the Ginny Sling, a floral, refreshing pour that runs on myrtle and woody rosemary. One sip and you are somewhere greener. Family run, eco minded, community first, and they call their regulars Ginny Pigs. Hard not to like that, and a good crew to share a bottle of bitters with.

Hartshorn Distillery is one of the more original outfits in Tasmania. It shares land with Grandvewe Cheeses, same family, same mission, and turns sheep whey left over from cheese making into a clean, characterful vodka. The whole idea started with a refusal to waste good stuff and a cheeky urge to prove the doubters wrong. Their Sheep Whey Pure Vodka is the base for the Espresso Baatini, a funky, savoury twist on the Espresso Martini that comes out smooth and complex. The little savoury edge is what makes it sing alongside our bitters. Looking after each other and the planet while making something genuinely different. That is a philosophy we are glad to raise a glass to.

Imbue Distillery sits in the scenic hills of Research, just out of Melbourne, where founders Mel and Mick Sheard, with good friends Luke and Nikki on board since 2019, make a wide spread of spirits from gin and vodka to brandy, liqueurs and an Angel’s Share whisky. There is a Distillery Door for tours and tastings, and a real green streak running through it: solar power, refilled bottles, spent grain that goes to local goats and a Full Circle Condiments range made from production offcuts. Their Suburban Barrel Aged Gin is the backbone of Peachy Keen, a fruity, funky take on a gin sour that comes out fresh and bright with loads of peach. Spirits with a story and a conscience. That is the sort of detail we appreciate, and good company for a maker like us.

Imperial Measures Distilling grew out of David Danby’s years behind the bars of Adelaide’s best rooms. He set it up in 2014, bringing a hospitality brain and a love of good liquid to the still, and today the venue on Santo Parade in Port Adelaide pours from a busy cocktail list and a wall of awards. Their Ounce Bold Gin is the base for the Bold Gin Sour, an approachable drink that manages to be bright, bold and silky smooth all at once. The citrus does the talking, our bitters keep it honest. A bartender’s distillery, built on knowing what actually drinks well. That is a sensibility we share, and a good place for a dash of aromatic bitters.

Karu Distillery, founded by Nick and Ally, is where things get a little bold. Ally taught herself to distil and built a reputation for it, while Nick brought a film maker’s eye to the brand. The result is an award winning range that runs from a Morita chipotle vodka to rum, coffee gin liqueur and their signature Affinity Gin, plus a clever line of upcycled jams and sauces made from spent botanicals. Affinity Gin leads Sunday’s Pink G&T, a smoky, refreshing pour built around rosemary that practically begs for a Sunday roast on the side. Karu does not do things by halves, and neither do we. Bold spirits and aromatic bitters were always going to get along.

Kilderkin Distillery is a small distillery in Ballarat, a city with a long, sometimes illicit history of making spirits going back to the 1860s. Rebecca Matthews and Chris Pratt spent years dreaming and planning before they opened in 2016 and launched their first gins in 2017. Their Distillery Bar lives in a refurbished old warehouse and pours gin and whisky flights, cocktails and local food, including a cheese platter people keep raving about. Their Apple Bramble Liqueur is the star of Scrumper’s Delight, basically apple pie and ice cream in a glass, sweet and spiced and made for a hot Christmas day. A touch of larrikin in everyone, as they put it. We will happily drink to that, and add a little spice while we are at it.

Lawnbrook Estate sits in the Perth Hills at Bickley, with a rustic restaurant, a cellar door and vineyards rolling out around it. Alongside its wines, the estate makes gins and liqueurs, with the distilling side, The Packing Shed Distilling Co, born out of the strange quiet of 2020. The cellar door and kitchen open across the weekend for tastings, lunch and the odd private event. Their Limoncello carries two drinks. The Aussie Mule is a local spin on the Moscow Mule, refreshing, bright and sweet. The Limoncello Lime and Bitters is a twist on the classic Aussie LLB that lets fragrant lemon myrtle do the talking. A family estate that grows, cooks and pours under one roof. That kind of paddock to glass thinking is right up our alley.

After more than twenty years producing incredible wines and establishing itself as one of Australia’s largest wineries, Salena Estate is expanding and we introduce you to their newest venture…Lock 4 Distillery. Owners Bob and Sylvia Franchitto have diversified their practice to include spirits and liqueurs. They use wine produced by the grapes from our vineyards and this is distilled on-site.

Maidenii is the boutique Australian vermouth that turns up on the back bar of nearly every good room in the country. It came together when former Gin Palace bartender Shaun Byrne met French winemaker Gilles Lapalus, and the two set about fusing native botanicals like strawberry gum, wattle seed and river mint with quality Victorian wine. They even wrote the book on it, literally, with The Book of Vermouth. Their Sweet Vermouth, built with the Negroni in mind, anchors two drinks: the Negroni Down Under, an orange led, bittersweet all Australian negroni, and the Mountinez, a smooth and dry take on the Martinez. A bartender and a winemaker chasing the same thing from two directions. That meeting of craft and produce is exactly what gets us excited.

Mt Uncle Distillery is the brainchild of Mark Watkins, a North Queensland bloke who chases flavour like it owes him money. Family owned since 2001 and based in Walkamin on the Atherton Tablelands, it makes rum, gin, agave and whisky, and Mark famously brought the first Blue Weber agave seeds onto Australian soil after an adventurous trip to Mexico. The cellar door is open seven days, with live music and events keeping the place buzzing. Their Botanic Australis Gin leads the Bush Martini, an earthy, outback leaning pour that wraps you in eucalyptus and lemon myrtle. A pioneering, slightly cheeky spirit runs through everything Mt Uncle does. That is the energy we love to bottle, and good fun to mix with.

Pietro Gallus Estate, in the hills of Warrandyte just out of Melbourne, is John and Anna’s love letter to the Italian good life. Built around estate grown produce, artisanal Grappa and liqueurs, it pairs award winning spirits with a villa style restaurant, Olivigna, plus weddings, events and grappa masterclasses for anyone who wants to look behind the still. Their Rosso Gin is the base for the Smoked Negroni Lite, a lighter negroni with a gentle smoky fragrance that suits just about any occasion. Seasonal produce, proper food and a real reverence for distilling. We feel right at home in that company, and a smoky negroni is a fine place to meet.

The Primary Goods Company is a tiny distillery with a big story, the first of its kind in the City of Parramatta and one of only a handful in western Sydney. Founders Dylan and Falecki turned a hidden storage unit at North Rocks into a multi award winning distillery, born out of the lockdowns of 2020 and opened the following year. They have a creative streak too, with a short film that took an Australian Cinematographers Society Gold Award. Their Renegat Vodka powers the Flaming Sunrise, a classic party drink with a spicy kick, made in both a home and a bar version so it works wherever you are pouring. Chasing a dream out of a small space with not much more than nerve. That underdog spirit is one we will always toast.

Prohibition Liquor Co. started in 2015 when two Adelaide mates, one from food and beverage and one a graphic designer, hatched a plan to make gin in a backyard garage. It grew into an Adelaide institution, with a Gilbert Street distillery built around a 900 litre copper pot still named Mary, plus Bootleg Coffee Co and the Next Door cocktail bar. The spirits have collected awards from San Francisco to Singapore. Their Original Gin is the base for the Dirty Martinez, the mother of martinis, smooth, sweet and aromatic. From a garage to the world stage without losing the plot. We have a lot of time for makers who keep that backyard spirit, and our bitters slot neatly into a martinez.

Seppeltsfield Road Distillers is the work of Jon and Nicole Durdin, a gin loving couple in the Barossa Valley, less than an hour from Adelaide. Their gins lean bright, fresh and full flavoured, with a Barossa Shiraz Gin that drinks bold and unmistakably local. The cellar door is worth the drive, with Friday knock offs and a gin and gourmet fudge tasting on offer. We built two drinks together. Rubies on the Rocks stacks sweet, tart and herbal, with their Barossa Shiraz Gin, lemon and our Convict Bitters chosen to balance rather than to dazzle. The Golden Outback is all floral sweetness, bright lemon and gentle spice, genuinely the bee’s knees. Two makers who taste and tweak until a drink simply works. That is how we like to build things too.

St Agnes Distillery has been making spirit in Renmark, in South Australia’s Riverland, since the Angove family set it up in 1910. More than a century on, just six master distillers have carried the house style, working the original 1910 copper pot stills to make what is widely regarded as Australia’s most awarded brandy, alongside Camborne Single Malt Whisky and Blind Tiger Organic Gin. A visit takes you through the historic barrel halls for flights and tastings. Their XO 15 Year Old anchors the French Negroni, slotting aged brandy in where the gin or rum would usually go, with Campari for bite and our Convict Aromatic Bitters to pull it together. The result is smooth, bittersweet, aromatic and sharp, refined without the fuss. A hundred years of patience meeting a bottle of bitters. We are honoured to share a glass with a maker that takes time this seriously

Travelling While Standing Still is a gin made by Macedon based couple Jacqui Henshaw, an award winning photographer whose artwork sits on the label, and Keith Smith, a designer and musician. The name comes from one of Jacqui’s artworks about travelling through imagination, and the gin follows the crow from the coast inland, infused with sea spray, salt bush and desert lime. It has gathered a swag of awards, including Champion Victorian Gin and Best London Dry Gin at the 2024 ADSA. That Australian Dry Gin leads the Coastal Gin Fizz, a refreshing, briny pour that drops you right where the bush meets the ocean. A gin built on memory and a sense of place, made by two artists having a go. That thoughtfulness is exactly what we look for in a partner.

Whipper Snapper Distillery was born in Perth in 2014 when brothers in law Al Malloch and Jimmy McKeown, two young whiskey drinkers, set out to put Western Australian grain on the map. They opened an urban distillery in East Perth and built a name making distinctly WA whiskey, with their Upshot Whiskey leading the charge. Upshot is the heart of Sweet Escape, the drink we made together: a rich, creamy pour built on Upshot and our Convict Aromatic Bitters, with the flavours of a Toblerone. Two Aussie craft distillers, one very good dessert in a glass. Young, driven and proudly Western Australian. We had a lot of fun building something a bit indulgent with this crew.