Transcript
Speaker: Would any of these distilleries, would all this happen without a few really pioneering figures in the 90s changing things up and and helping to sort of revive Australian distilling and then spread and sort of seed the message to both people in Tasmania, but then all around the country that this is a fantastic country in which produce a whole range of different spirits.
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Speaker: Hello and welcome to what is the first weekly news edition of the Full Measure podcast. I'm James Smith, the founder of the Full Measure, and I'm here with Luke McCarthy. Hello, mate. Fantastic to be here. Excited. There's a little bit to get through, isn't there? There is. Well, you know, and we are, well, technically not even a week in to the Full Measure as well. week we sit here today well even before we actually launched the site last tuesday you were down in and cryo hosting tours so whilst i was trying to like finalize things for the website yep you were having to sort strip yourself away from large groups of people who were like waiting on your beckham call they were i think we were at a call and i think it was about 50 distillers uh just staring at you going what are you doing we start the tour now i'm like oh we're about to launch a website so um Yes. What was going on down there?
Speaker: Yeah. So what I didn't realize as well when we got down there, so this was for the spirits, Victoria association conference. So spirits, Victoria is probably one of the biggest industry associations in the country. When we arrived at Corio, a very fundamental, um, big story in the history of Australian distilling, um, no one had been there before. So about 95% of distillers hadn't actually been to this particular site it's a big behemoth of a thing. It's surrounded by oil refineries. Um, I had an absolute blast telling people about the history of it. Um, You've been there before, obviously. I've been there a few times. I've snuck in, taken a lot of photos. I've probably gone into the spaces I shouldn't have legally, but, um, but yeah, to get in and crack open the story for a lot of people and, and talk about, um, what that history is and how relates to the modern day industry was, was fantastic. And then, yeah, trying field off calls and emails. And me going, Luke, Luke, Luke, when are we going to have this ready? No, no, and then it was actually quite a nice sort of, I guess, sandwiching there. We had that on the Monday evening, went live on the Tuesday, and then Wednesday morning, I just got this thing pop up about Hemsworth, which we'll talk about bit more in the second half of the show. But I was like, I think I sent you a slack message. I don't want to wake him at 6am on the first morning of website, but you were up anyway with the twins and you were like... We've got the media release, there we were like 6.15, less than 12 and a half hours after we'd launched the site and I'm trying create social tiles with Chris Hemsworth on. But we'll come back to it. It's certainly made for a lively launch to the new website. It was buzzing. It was buzzing, which is great. Yeah, yeah, And especially spending some time around the distillers. You know, distillers obviously are going to great. crucial everything we do. So getting their feedback on how we were going and they were very excited to see the site themselves. And if you have much feedback since, I think most people will have been targeting their comments in your direction rather than me being a beer guy and you being spirits man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, a lot of spirits people obviously got in touch, but some beer people too as well, which was great. Had some international comments as well. um i won't go and drop names i could drop a few big names but alone um but yeah so the feedback instantly has been fantastic we've done um people from right across the industry reaching out um across different categories too which is you know the real excitement of what the full measure is going to be moving forward obviously got a lot of experience in age spirits especially whiskey but moving into coverage of everything across the Australian Spirits landscape is going a really exciting part of the story moving forward. I got a message from someone in WAG, are you recovering RTDs? I like, everything. And then, know, the sort of the grimace face emoji. But, you know, there's plenty of people out there we can we can lean upon for expertise as well. In terms of what we put up on the first week, well, actually just started this week. Yeah. You're sort of look back on the 10th TAS Whiskey Week.
Speaker: No, the 10th anniversary, which was which was really special. um I came in from Perth, so I was fairly well exhausted by the time I got there. But as I sort of say in the piece, it started for me, my Tasmania Whiskey Week started with Dragon Dram. Is that what it sounds like, Dragon Dram?
Speaker: Yes. so Dragon Dram hosted by Ryan Dragaqueen and Puss A Poppins. It was an absolute time. was my first time attending it. It was, yeah, an absolute time. I couldn't think of a better time to start or a venue or an event to start at. We're at Lark. And all the Lark team were there and you know there's some fantastic people from the community there as well. So yeah, just ah an incredible start. Shows you how far Tasmanian Whiskey Week has come too. Because when I you know first started going in 2016, 17 for TasWhiskey Week, it was first founded in 2016. Yeah, look, there was probably only six or seven distilleries that had yeah a fair amount of whiskey available. And to think that there's now 35 distilleries that have whiskey available, probably you could have tried over 150 whiskeys across the week, bus tours, masterclasses, boat cruises. And so you tried to encapsulate this in the in the article? and And also, and it's in combination with the first of two tastings you put on the site. So this is something young um I guess people have come to the full measure
Speaker: knowing the Crafty it's something you're doing a bit differently. So we've got sort of pieces about individual drinks, but the tastings is something where you're going to... Sometimes it might be focused on but a single drink, yeah but a lot of the time it's going to be themed tastings. So this one you've picked, what, six of you or your favourite whiskeys from established Tasmanians? That's right, six of the old guard is probably one way of putting in it, where... Look, there is a bit of a separation that's occurred between some of the more established distilleries in Tasmania and some of the newer garden, and explore that in part two. um But wanted to start with, you know, the Hellier's Roads, the Solomon's Cove, the Larks. We've got Launceston in there as well, Overeem. And trying to sort of give both consumers, industry, everyone a bit of perspective on what it means to be producing whiskey for 10, 15, 20, 30 years in the case of Sullivan's and what that allows you to do from a stock but from a stock perspective as well So you know Sullivan's now bottling They've got
Speaker: come and and So, I mean, look, if you're an upstart producer that's only got whiskey that's been in barrel for sort of four or five years, it's pretty difficult to compete with something like that. There's obviously going to be a layer of complexity that a startup producer really can't come at. So I think it's sort of important for people to understand that that's, you know, you've got to meet a distillery where they're at. And if they're earlier on in their journey, then, you know, that's that's where they are. And if they're a lot further along in their journey, God, there's some Scottish whiskey distilleries that can only look for... 200 250 years so so that i think is key it's it's important to sort of come to these distilleries with the right context in the right spirit um that's trying to do with these two tastings give people a perspective on how whiskey is maturing in cast for a lot of these distilleries how it's progressing why it's tasting so great um and hopefully yeah people can uh have a look there and find something they might love And down the line, maybe in a couple of weeks time, yeah there'll be a piece on LARC as well. You spend a bit of time in the company, getting sort of ins and outs, the ups and downs the last few years. Yeah. ah
Speaker: Extraordinary day, and to be honest. The more I've reflected on it and thought about it, and I'm well into pretty close to to having this this feature finished now. um Stu Greger picked us up. I was with Sam Boothby. first Sorry, Sam Bygrove from Boothby. Sam Boothby. Well, he is basically Sam Boothby now. Boothby Bygrove. Yeah, I'll mention that to him. I'm going to see him later this week. um So we just got the most incredible tour there. And it was, ah I guess in some ways, it was a bit of everything on the table in terms of questions, really trying to get at the heart of what Lark is, what's happened over the last decade. And they were so free with their time. And then following that incredible tour, we spent way too long there. I ended up coming back into Hobart with ah with Chris Thompson. Following that was sort of like an industry drinks with all of the... I've never seen so many sort of, I guess, Tasmanian whiskey people, a lot of mainland spirits people all in one room. um Got to chat to Bill, got to chat to Bert Casson and Emily from the Whiskey Club as well. You know, one of the major success stories in, you know, Australian drinks generally. um And I guess reflecting on how that, you know,
Speaker: would any of these distilleries would all this happen without a few really pioneering figures in the 90s changing things up and and helping to sort of revive um australian distilling and then spread and sort of seed the message to both people in tasmania but then all around the country that this is a fantastic country in which produce a whole range of different spirits and being there that night was yeah i guess for a lot of people looking back on 10 years of tasmania whiskey week a great sort of Yeah, a great vibe and feeling on where the industry is and where it's come from.
Speaker: Good to hear. No, it's great stuff. Well, we'll take a short break now and then we'll come back and have a chat about Thor, about branding and um what else we've got coming up. So we'll see you after the break. Sounds great. Cheers.
Speaker: Returning this October, Grainstock is a truly unique conference created for the brewing, distilling and baking industries, and you are invited to be part of the experience. Held at the stunning Witten Malthouse in the Riverina, attendees will be able to take part in grain field tours, a technical symposium, trade show, live demonstrations and sensory tastings, networking with growers, maltsters, brewers, distillers, bakers and industry suppliers from across Australia and beyond.
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Speaker: calling all distilleries and spirit industry suppliers. At the full measure, we're aiming to build Australia's most comprehensive directory of distillers and the industry that supports them.
Speaker: Every listed distillery will benefit from product profiles, venue information, event promotion and more. Not only is it a great avenue to connect with new customers, driving both online sales and cellar door footfall, you'll also be supporting The Full Measure as we create a new home for spirits journalism.
Speaker: Be part of The Full Measure Directory. Reach out to Craig via craig at thefullmeasure.com.au for more information.
Speaker: Welcome back. Part two of our first ever weekly news edition of the full measure or full full Z, which is the best. So far, that was Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, back to the matter in hand, yeah um as we alluded to earlier, um you know within a few hours of launching the website, we were dealing with the the story that Chris Hemsworth has has brought into Archie Rose. I think it took you a bit by surprise. I think you got the message from me going, what the hell? And found you found your inbox for some info, had a chat to Will as well. So, yeah, what did you make of that?
Speaker: Look, I think... Come the end of this year, will this be like one of the biggest stories of the year, possibly, in the Australian spirits landscape? um Look, obviously, he's Chris just has such an enormous profile. And I think what it signals to any of the medium, just sort of large tier Australian distilleries, to anyone who's looking to play in that export space and looking to take Australian whiskey and other spirits moving forward.
Speaker: was very interested to see that a lot of the commentary in the article and the commentary for Chris focused on whiskey as well. So Archie Rose for me has been this incredible producer that's been very multi-spirit in its in its outlook since its beginning. It's sort of a trend that we've touched on in and in other points around the full measure and in other chats. so whether or not the gin side of that um is is elevated. They make really fantastic rum and other stuff too. They do incredible stuff across right across the range. So i' just fascinating to see how direct and particular the the messaging and I guess the export potential becomes for for Archie moving forward. But I mean, what a bloody story. yeah know. Just ridiculous. Yeah, yeah. And in terms of, you know, ah obviously there's other examples of of people, you know, know there's a...
Speaker: Margot Robbie involved in Papus Salt Gin. There's other people involved in there, which probably lends itself to a bit of a you know Luke McCarthy deep dive down the line. you know is this Is it something that's been building? I do remember going to the and Australian National Spirits Awards this year where you were hosting and one of the first awards went to what the tequila that the Rock's involved in. So there was a you know large cardboard cutout of him. And I'm like, This is in many ways, this is a pretty different world to be like, you know, we've said there's the common ground, but you know, there's, there's certainly some rather larger names. And do you think it's so something that has, has legs?
Speaker: The celebrity spirits trend is something that's going on for a very long time now. If we think back to George Clooney and his incredible success with, with tequila, the rock has done an incredible job. Um, Trish Brew, who I know really well, the ambassador for Terra Mana, she'll love us giving that a shout out. She'll absolutely love it. Hello to Trish if she's listening. And then more likely, we have Larry Amda with the Ben Buckler whiskey brand, which is produced out Coro and Distilling Co up in Coro and in northern or southern New South Wales. I'm from New South Wales, so I should get that right. And then we've got obviously Margot Robbie and Puppa Salt Gin, which you referenced, which I think is a really fantastic gin. you know, take away the branding and the excellence behind that. And I guess the backstory there, and it's a really lovely gin, very well thought out, quite an intelligent product, definitely. So, and then, you know, there are others. So you mentioned Mark Boris. Well, sorry, you mentioned the Australian International Spirits. Yeah, well, they picked up a trophy as well with the bird tie. That's right. The bird, the apprentice host, Mark Boris, obviously a very successful, famed entrepreneur. He's been working with Burton Hand Winery and Gareth and Angela Andrews from Fleurieu, who some would argue absolutely up in the top three for best whiskey producers in the country. And they have used their expertise to create a range of whiskeys, obviously for Fleurieu to salute themselves, but their Country to Coast Bottling is a fantastic in collaboration with Blackgate. If you've never tried those, please get to them. They basically win every awards program they're ever entered into. Absolutely delicious. And so their expertise has been put together to help Mark Boris create this really beautiful tasting, now blended malt whiskey, I believe. So I'm interested to find out where all the components come from. That's something I'll track down for everyone so we can find out. But, know, delicious whiskey. And I think most of these founders too, most of the celebrity founders, obviously there's some that a little bit different. Ricky Gervais has It's a spirit spray, which I haven't tried yet, but hey, it's probably riot. Somewhat contentious marketing. Yeah, I'd say so. But in general, lot of these folks have come to it through their love of the spirit as well. So Larry Andrews, a class like that, is a big fan of whiskey. Margaret Robb is huge gin fan.
Speaker: social posts of ink gin going back you know a number of years absolutely you know led to hustler's ink gin exploding on the market so um that's great and i think a lot of people have commented i did see some people comment on the hemsworth story that he seems actually connected to the brand and to be a lover of australian whiskey so He can be seen roaming that part of Sydney on occasion when he's yeah in Hollywood or not in not on Byron Bay. yeah so As Will. So yeah Will's of Bell actually commented on the fact that he saw him somewhere in the vicinity of Archie Rose yeah going back a few years. so Yeah, for sure, with his kids.
Speaker: um Not that he was out, you know, papping or anything like that. um And I guess and we mentioned tastings before. The other tasting you had on the site live for when we switched on the other day yep was focused on Australia's Exo brandies. Yes. One of my favorite categories. I don't know how hard we're going go at this to actually get more people interested in brandy. Come you can help us out. um And one of the reasons I wanted to to get that tasting up there is because I'd love for people to understand more about Australian brandy moving forward, especially you know, our exo standard brandy. So normally minimum 10 years old, if we're following the sort of cognac classification as most Australian brandy producers do in that sense. And we've also got Holly coming on the podcast later in the week. And so to give people an understanding of, I guess, the brandy space, because it's quite complicated, there's multiple eras. And, you know, we are talking about what a spirit that was at one stage Australia's most consumed, probably most popular age spirit for a period in the 60s and 70s, where It was very affordable. excise rate was was dropped down because it was a grape glut in South Australia and other parts of Victoria and new South Wales. And so they dropped the excise to to help a lot of farmers out and it became very cheap to produce brandy. So we have, i mean, before that, you know, you the likes of Chateau Ternanda and Penfolds and Ranella, these really famous old South Australian brands were doing fantastically well. And then brandy exploded. it was cheap. It was affordable. Everyone like loved it. It tasted great. And the industry exploded. Come the 80s and 90s where everything, a lot happens in Australian wine. There's a big consolidation period and you start to see these brandy you know brands fall away. And really St. Agnes out of that period is one of the only survivors. And so
Speaker: Agnes. It became a little uncool. It did. Yeah, yeah. And that was a big part of it, you know. And we sort of touched on that in the the podcast with Holly. We're like, why is why is Brandy so deeply uncool and how can we change that? um There's some bars I know that ah that are looking at it in ah in a new light and having a crack at it. so Well, she does say in in the podcast, we won't say too much about it because that is our first extended interview podcast this is Friday, which will become fortnightly additions on top of this weekly news show. Yeah. But she does talk about, you know if you go back in time, some of the absolute classic cocktails of the world used to feature chip brandy before, you know, risky was was substituted in or, you know, put it instead. So she's definitely fighting the fight with you. to help Get the word out there. Yeah, we're we're fighting the good fight, I reckon. And yeah, if if you love cocktails, geez, Vicarais. Um, Zazerac on, I've made so many Zazeracs with Australian brandy. I actually reckon a Zazerac tastes better with an Australian brandy than a cognac.
Speaker: Um, there's a lot more body and voluptuous in a lot of Australian brandies, which just works so well with Zazeracs, especially side cars as well. So if you love your side cars, um, using that extra richness and depth that you get with an Australian brandy, sometimes there's debate in the sidecar world about whether or' not you add sugar. Um, and I don't think you need add sugar to a sidecar. If you get the brandy right. Um, and you know, if you're using a Bass and Flinders brandy or a St. Agnes brandy, uh, to make a sidecar, I guarantee you it's frigging exceptional. So, so yeah, just a few little tidbits to play around with, um, before our Holly podcast, but yeah, definitely have a listen when it's out. Yeah. So that'd be our Friday. And guess the other thing we should mention, um there are other articles on the website as well, but we've also got the first of our directory listings um on the website. and we've got about 15 or 16 live at this stage, more coming most most days, hopefully, you know, yeah keep and keep them coming in. Yeah, yeah. So the offering for the site like with Crafty Pine, at the minute we've got distilleries taking listings, which helps us do what we do. We'd love more you to get involved. um So jump on there, it tells their story, story everything you can sort of want to know about them. got some great deals on there um for most them as well. If you want to jump online, save some money, first purchase, that kind of thing. So we've been we sharing them over time across our socials as well. So we had Starwood up on Friday, they what Bass and Flinders will be up by the time you listen to this. um And yeah, so that's another thing we will be adding down the line sort of, you know, venues, bottle shops, ah sort of industry supplier directory as well. yeah But we figure one thing at a time. And the first thing was quite a big thing. um So, but that's you know done. And this is another big thing done now. um But yeah, so on Friday, we'll have Luke's chat with with Holly. yeah
Speaker: um And then we're back next Monday with the next one of these, the next news chat. We'll see which you know what what drops in the next next week. Yeah, it should be interesting. I'm in Sydney the end of this week for the the judging at the Sydney Royal Distance Spirits show, which should be fantastic. And I'm getting to some distilleries in Sydney as well. So I'll have some reports on some inner city distilleries. I might even make it into Archie Rose's Who knows? Hemsworth might be there. Join the queue. i'll try and I'll try and grab an interview for everyone listening to The Full Measure. But anyway, it'd be good to catch up with the Archie crew and some of the other people I'm sitting in. There'll be a lot of people in town for that award. So I will have some reports from there next week. Excellent stuff. um
Speaker: Well, thanks so much for listening or watching wherever you might be for our first weekly news episode. um As we said, Friday will be our first of our extended Full Measure interviews. But please, if you have enjoyed the show, make sure you like, subscribe, rate, review, tell your mates about it, send them the link. um Also, if you've got any feedback, even this early on, please send it through to cheers at thefullmeasure.com.au.
Speaker: We'll choose whether we take it on board or not. We'll listen, I can't. We'll read them all. We're here to listen as much as we are as we are to and pontificate. um But no, thanks so much for joining us. here's to ah you know Here's to a bright future for Australian spirits. And we'll see you again here in a week's time.
Speaker: Cheers. Cheers. The Full Measure podcast is produced and edited by Matt Hoffman. For all partnership inquiries, reach out to Craig Williams, craig at thefullmeasure.com.au.
Speaker: To keep up to date with everything happening in Australian spirits, visit thefullmeasure.com.au and subscribe.
