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A Journey Down Hellyers Road
18 Plays8 days ago
Join David, Fiona and I as we take a journey down Hellyers Road.
Fiona Coutts is the Head Distiller and David Debattista the driving force for sales and rep - they sit down with me for an hour and a half to talk all things Hellyers Road - we get their origin stories, we taste through their whisky library (which they graciously sent me) and we get the low down on what went into selecting their spirits for the limited Rare Hare release.
Make sure you check our their socials below:
If my tasting notes have made you thirsty, check it out here!
https://hellyersroaddistillery.com.au/pages/hellyers-road-tasmanian-single-malt-whisky
Recommended
Transcript
Intro
Welcome and Introductions
00:00:17
Jez
Good. Welcome back to another episode of Non-Chill Filtered. i am very blessed this evening to be essentially hosting ah two classic Australian, say one distillery, um but two parts of.
00:00:34
Jez
I'm blessed with David and Fiona from Hellia's Road. Welcome, guys. Thank you for jumping in.
00:00:41
Fiona
Thanks for having us.
00:00:42
David Debattista
Thanks for having us.
00:00:44
Jez
You guys are welcome. I know you guys have a busy busy last few days, but we'd
Hellia's Road 22-Year Launch
00:00:49
Jez
be in the future. So busy two weeks ago, you guys have just launched the 22-year because it's all that's been in my feed on socials in the last, I don't know, 24 hours.
00:01:01
David Debattista
That's good.
00:01:01
Jez
Mainly it's been...
00:01:02
David Debattista
Marketing team's doing their job. Good stuff.
00:01:04
Fiona
but
00:01:05
Jez
Yeah, we can pay them this fortnight. That'd be nice.
00:01:08
Fiona
like
00:01:09
Jez
ah But I want to essentially kick it off. If you guys want to your intros and then we can roll into your comic book 01 origin story, how essentially, yes, say David, and then we'll roll into Fiona got into whiskey and how you ended up here.
00:01:25
Jez
David,
00:01:26
Fiona
Sure, sounds good.
00:01:29
David Debattista
Cool, cool.
00:01:29
Jez
if you want to kick us off.
00:01:29
David Debattista
Yeah.
David's Journey into Whiskey
00:01:31
David Debattista
Yeah. My name's David DeBatista. Um, I do a sort sales and a, an amalgamation of everything else that falls into the gaps at hell he is in terms of moving stock and getting liquid on lips for people.
00:01:46
Fiona
But how'd you get into it, Dave?
00:01:46
Jez
yeah
00:01:49
David Debattista
Oh, do you want me to do my origin story now too?
00:01:50
Jez
Yeah, you can.
00:01:51
David Debattista
Oh, okay.
00:01:51
Fiona
Yeah.
00:01:51
Jez
Yeah, you as well roll into it.
00:01:52
David Debattista
Sure. Sure.
00:01:53
Jez
Yeah, yeah.
00:01:54
David Debattista
Yeah. Um, Yeah, well, I suppose, you know, many, many years ago, I am ah went to uni, you know, and usually when you're at uni, you work in a bar on the weekends, because it's, you know, a way of getting paid to drink and, and you know, go out.
00:02:07
Fiona
Thank you.
00:02:09
David Debattista
um So yeah, I studied advertising at RMIT in Melbourne after for years and learned how to sell products to people, pretty much. And then ah on yeah weekends, worked in bars and And then ah after I studied our advertising, got into the advertising industry and worked at advertising agencies and stuff, coming up with campaigns and ways to sell products. And that was good for a couple of years, pretty crazy, until a global financial crisis happened, 2008. And everyone I went to uni with all got fired in about two weeks because it's the first thing you cut back on, advertising and marketing.
00:02:43
David Debattista
ah so as such I started doing a lot more work in bars than I was advertising and then ah eventually yeah justs just working in bars full time and then the next thing I started managing bars and then working in bars and then opening bars and and ne did that for for many years and sort of found a bit of a niche working in some late night hospitality in Melbourne running large format venues with lots of people inside with loud music and lots of acts and things going on and
00:02:52
Fiona
Thank you.
00:03:14
David Debattista
sort of found, I suppose, a bit of a way of working where I could sort of package things up and sell them to people and convince them that's what they wanted for a lot and lot of money.
00:03:25
David Debattista
um So, yeah, ran large format nightclubs, places like Alhambra,
00:03:29
Fiona
Thank you.
00:03:29
David Debattista
XC54, Miss Collins, places for Crown Casino and stuff as well. And sort of really pushed booth service and all that bottle service type of stuff. And while I was doing that in bars, I really got into whiskey, really liked whiskey. So, um, sort of meeting people in whiskey and selling a lot more whiskey than probably what I ever needed to be.
00:03:48
David Debattista
And then, um, One day when I was running one of the nightclubs, I was like, we should just build a whiskey bar in the front of this nightclub here. That'd be funny. And um so i did that and ended up partnering up with the guys from Glenfiddich to do that. And we launched a whiskey bar and did that and went over to Scotland many times and had lots of fun with various people and ah Yeah, really deep dived into a whiskey and as a result, having a whiskey venue in one of my venues.
00:04:13
David Debattista
And um yeah, they ended up going down to Tasmania, even though I've been to Scotland and America and Japan, if i'd never been 45 minutes the other way. And I went down to Tassie for the first time ah because my missus, she was from Tassie.
Fiona's Transition to Distillation
00:04:25
David Debattista
So she took me to Tassie for the first time. And the first distillery she took me to was Hellia's Road.
00:04:31
David Debattista
And um yeah, we we went all the way around the state visiting distilleries and seeing the sites and stuff. And then we had our first kid. And then we're like, maybe we should move down to Tassie and, you know, get involved down there.
00:04:42
David Debattista
That could be quite good. It's more conducive when you've got a kid.
00:04:43
Jez
thought you were going to name Helly
00:04:45
David Debattista
but your Yeah, they could have called him Henry, I guess.
00:04:46
Fiona
Thank you.
00:04:48
David Debattista
It's not too far from that. His name was Harry. ah
00:04:51
Jez
There we go.
00:04:51
David Debattista
But um yeah, yeah, we'll take that link.
00:04:51
Jez
We're close.
00:04:54
David Debattista
um And then, um yeah, we moved down to Tassie and COVID hit. And it was great to be in Tassie. Didn't really have a lockdown. You could go to the pub. People were locked up at home and up on the mainland and, yeah, got into whiskey and, yeah, i worked for a couple of years before I met the ah the guys at Hellier's and they showed me what was coming up with the rebrand and the relaunch and the liquid that Fiona was now putting together, which was worlds above what was up there previously. And I was intrigued and I liked it like a challenge.
00:05:26
David Debattista
So I thought, yeah, let's do it and sort of ended up working for Hellier's. And that sort of brings us to now, a couple of years later.
00:05:35
Jez
which is a ah great, I'd say, moment to introduce Fiona into the mix here. yeah
00:05:42
Fiona
and
00:05:43
Jez
Fiona, what what role do you play at Helia's and just how did you end up where you are now?
Inheriting and Managing Older Stock
00:05:49
Fiona
Well, um I am now the head still. at Helios Road. I did start out ah just on the floor as a distiller in 2021.
00:06:00
Fiona
So I'm a ah fairly recent addition to the industry ah generally. um And prior to that, ah um actually, my my trade is as a biomedical scientist. so So it's a bit of a bit of a jump to go from maybe...
00:06:17
Jez
No, I'd say that fitting.
00:06:19
Fiona
it It absolutely does, but not immediately when it springs to mind, oh, biomedical scientist, what do you do? I'm like, I worked in human pathology for 18 years.
00:06:29
Fiona
Yeah.
00:06:30
Jez
ah yeah, put whiskey in a transfusion and just spin that puppy around and there we go.
00:06:35
Fiona
Why not? Yeah. Yeah. So gone from maybe trying to save lives to maybe not.
00:06:37
Jez
Cask finishing.
00:06:42
Fiona
I don't know, saving lives, yeah.
00:06:43
Jez
Oh, 1920s doctors were prescribing whiskey. It's fine.
00:06:45
Fiona
Yeah, exactly. um So very much a scientific background. And ah during COVID, I suppose, healthcare was a fairly hectic place to work. um And I'd not long lost my Scottish dad, and he loved a tipple, loved his whisky.
00:07:02
Jez
I'm sorry to hear.
00:07:04
Fiona
i but I was back 2019, yeah, but it's yeah always tough. um And we used to, my dad and I used to brew beer together in the backyard.
00:07:15
Fiona
I've got some horror stories of the things he used to do with
00:07:17
David Debattista
Mm-hmm.
00:07:18
Fiona
um brewing grain and my mother's stockings. We won't go into that.
00:07:26
Fiona
Absolute shocker. But, you know, really fond memories of that. And also, like, he got me into drinking whiskey at probably far too young an age. You know, he always thought it was really important that people learn how to drink whiskey properly, which was islam with ah a drop of tepid water. It had to be, you know, room temperature water. it was very particular about it.
00:07:47
Fiona
and So yeah, during those COVID years at pathology, it was pretty tough and ah started looking for something else that might, you know, bring some joy to my working career and floated in a few different options. But I just kept steering back to craft beer and and then ultimately went to a distilling course in Hobart after I started started studying because being a scientist, that's kind of what I do, just sort start studying stuff. And I was doing the IBD course in general certificate in brewing at the time.
00:08:22
Fiona
went to the distilling course in Hobart um and met the general manager of Hellia's at that time. um And he's like, you're from the northwest coast and you're a scientist.
00:08:34
Fiona
hmm, and you're looking at getting in this into this industry. He was quite, like, intrigued and basically said, come up for a chat, which I did, and landed that distilling job.
00:08:46
Fiona
um And then from there just sort of worked my way up from being distiller on the floor, running around that giant plant and into tanks and up onto tanks and capping in grain, having an absolute ball doing it. I bloody loved it.
00:09:03
Fiona
um And, Yeah, into the role of head distiller a few short years later. So it's been an absolutely wild ride over the last four years, but I've loved every second of it.
00:09:14
Fiona
It's so, so challenging now um being in that role of head distiller. It's more um yeah production planning and managing staff and is a it's a much, much more expanded role and it's really challenging.
00:09:27
Fiona
challenging and interesting and not something I could have ever dreamt of doing previously. So yeah, absolutely stoked.
00:09:36
Jez
So now that you're essentially running the production side of the distillery from like a ah head distilling background, how did you find the transition from, I'd say, like distilling your own stock and getting that ready for future releases and taking ownership of someone else's stock and try and guide that into your new releases like... ah I'd say some of the new ones behind me because you are you graish ah gracefully hooked me up with this glorious 20-year.
Selling Older Age Whiskeys
00:10:09
Jez
I got 21-year as well. How hard are those spirits to work with when you didn't root like you didn't distill them so you're like, all right, we've got this product here, let's...
00:10:21
Fiona
Yeah. Look, it's always going to be, you know, if you if you plan to release um older whiskey, it's always going to be like running two businesses. It's going to be I'm making it.
00:10:37
Fiona
That's the pure production side of um laying down stock and, you know running through all the quality things and maintenance programs and running a distillery.
00:10:38
Jez
Mm-hmm.
00:10:45
Fiona
It's very very much its own beast. And then the other side, that flip side is, the marketing the barrel types, the the barrel house, what I've got in maturation and how um that those barrels are coming along and monitoring the the maturation, doing sensory assessments, all that sort of stuff. So they're very, very different aspects to the same overarching business. So absolutely challenging um to dedicate the right amount of time to to both aspects.
00:11:16
Fiona
um And it is kind of cool to inherit all that stuff because you go, oh, who would have been the distiller at this time? Who who distilled this? Oh, yeah.
00:11:28
Fiona
And, you know, the records from way, way back, ah and on paper, shoved in a, you know. the The recording of stuff. I mean, yeah, it was recorded. It was all on paper. But when we upgraded to everything being on the computer, a lot of that stuff didn't get transferred. So you've got literally got to go sifting back going, oh, how much did they mash at this time? And and what were the spirit runs like? What were the cuts like?
00:11:54
Fiona
um So it is a like... like digging for little nuggets of gold when you're going back through those records. um And, yeah, really interesting to see what they they got up to.
00:12:06
Fiona
And they did lots and lots of experimenting in the early years as well. So it's been really interesting to find records of um very early days when they doing trials around temperatures and yeast and and bits and bobs.
00:12:18
Fiona
um But, yeah, down many, many, many years down the track, you know, 20 years, yeah Our oldest barrels now in the Bond store are just turning 23. 23 years down the track, it's hard to tie together, actually, what they did back then as as new makers to the mature whiskey because the mature whiskey can be so varied amongst all those um individual barrels.
00:12:44
Fiona
um So it's an interesting journey is the upshot. that
00:12:51
Jez
Yeah, it is. they Each whiskey barrel takes its own journey, right? like
00:12:56
Fiona
It does.
00:12:56
Jez
You'd see different temperature swings between like season to season and the distilling practices would have changed as well. Yeah.
00:13:04
Fiona
They would have. The yeast strains, the grain varieties over the years have changed multiple times. Yes, they're all going to be similar, but slowly improved perhaps over time for yield and um pest resistance, that sort of thing. So there's there's that that variability that's built into the process, but then there's that huge variability that comes from individual cast to cast. So we've got a really beautiful example in our Bond store of two casts from 2004 that have spent their entire lives seated together on the same cradle in the Bond store, basically in the same location, and they were distilled mashed and distilled in the same run.
00:13:46
Fiona
So it's the same same new mate that went in. But those barrels are poles apart in terms of profile. So one's super fruity and tropical and amazing and the other one's got this real leather tobacco kind of note going on and it's a much, much different beast.
00:13:56
David Debattista
Thank
00:14:03
Fiona
Like it's... They're just so different. So then, you you know, you do all the things to make your and new mate the same, same, same every time, and then the cast comes and just goes, nah, don't take it this direction.
00:14:17
Fiona
So, yeah, that's cool.
00:14:18
Jez
It's so interesting. It's like crazy to watch. It's like, know you know, you did everything right. Everything's the same up until that cask. And that's one thing you don't have control over because you're just going to let nature do its thing.
00:14:29
Fiona
Not really. Yes. yeah They're both Jack Daniels casks from the same shipment, I would assume, probably from the same um bond store, you know, and and in Jack.
00:14:37
Jez
Yeah.
00:14:42
Jez
Same Coopridge and everything else.
00:14:42
Fiona
Yeah. that yeah
00:14:43
Jez
Yeah.
00:14:44
Fiona
and But, hey, the timber was different, so you get different extractives. So there you go.
00:14:49
Jez
Yeah. It's like different pores within that wood and it'll just either suck it up quicker or let it sit.
00:14:56
Fiona
Yeah, that's it.
00:14:57
Jez
But i'll ah I'll throw it over to you, David. How hard is it to sell hyperage whiskey in the ah the current whiskey climate? um
00:15:10
David Debattista
Yeah, it's it's pretty entertaining.
00:15:10
Fiona
Thank you.
00:15:12
David Debattista
um lot of the time, yeah, like a lot of the time we get told, like, know, I'll go up someone and go, have you ever had Tassie whiskey before?
00:15:13
Jez
Entertaining is the word.
00:15:21
David Debattista
They'll, you know, announce one or two brands that maybe they've heard of before.
00:15:24
Jez
yep
00:15:25
David Debattista
But they've been told sort of a story by nearly everybody in the industry. Oh, you know, Australian whiskey is really young. You know, there is no old whiskey in Australia. It's normal to be, you know, whiskey that comes in a small bottle with no age.
00:15:39
David Debattista
for two, $300 and yeah.
00:15:41
Jez
At two, three years old, I just want to glass someone.
00:15:41
David Debattista
and Yeah.
00:15:45
Jez
i can't deal with it.
00:15:48
David Debattista
And like, I, I love a good challenge, but I also love sort of sometimes proving people wrong, you know?
00:15:49
Fiona
Thank you.
00:15:54
David Debattista
So I love saying, well, actually let me show you something.
00:15:54
Jez
Yeah.
00:15:58
David Debattista
Let me tell you a story, you know, let me take you through. Cause that's my job. My job is to talk to people, you above and beyond everything. It's always just, I get to go sit down with people,
00:16:09
David Debattista
talk to them, pour them some whiskey. It's a pretty good challenge to have. You know, not going to complain, that's for sure. But sometimes people will have a preconceived idea. You know, they'll be like, oh, you know, it's all young.
00:16:20
David Debattista
It's all no good. Or, you know, like it's only sold in Australia. You know, it's, you know, stuff that's been made in someone's shed. And I'll go, well, actually, you know, could have been.
00:16:29
Jez
It have been.
00:16:31
Fiona
Thank you.
00:16:31
David Debattista
There's a lot of the shed distilleries in Tassie.
00:16:33
Jez
Yeah, so...
00:16:33
David Debattista
And I go, but actually the distillery I'm going to show you today was founded in the 90s, you know, we're purpose-built facility. When we were built with the biggest in Southern Hemisphere, you know, we were built for export in mind.
00:16:46
David Debattista
We've been selling whiskey overseas since, you know, 2010s, you know, so it's not like it's something that's only made in Australia. Our brand is sold overseas. Let me show you some things that we sell overseas. Like I love telling people, not you're wrong, but let me show you what we've got and show you how this story that you've heard isn't quite correct.
00:17:08
David Debattista
Let me make mic you open your eyes to something that's fantastic tasting. You know, so when, and I mean, I do whiskey shows all the time. yeah I was in Canberra, you know, week and a half ago doing a whiskey show and I told copious persons one after the other, here you go, let me give you a sample of a 20 year old.
00:17:24
David Debattista
And they're like, what?
00:17:26
Jez
What?
00:17:26
David Debattista
What do you mean mean a 20 year old?
00:17:26
Fiona
Thank you.
00:17:26
Jez
Yeah.
00:17:27
David Debattista
What? What are you talking about? And i was like yeah, I've got a 20 year old here and I'm perfectly happy to share it with you because you want to learn more. You want to know about this. You know, you're eager to know That's what you're at this event for. And let me show you what we have.
00:17:41
David Debattista
Tastes great. It's fantastic. It's won awards all over the world. And it's made right here. You know, so you get that polar opposite, had no idea that there is even such thing as old Australian whiskey.
00:17:53
David Debattista
And then you get the people that may have tried our whiskey once 15 years ago. one of our first releases, in all honesty, probably wasn't very good. So they have a preconceived idea.
00:18:04
David Debattista
So sometimes it can be a battle. Sometimes it can be an opinion that I welcome. So I can let you see what 15 years worth of work is now God has to, you know, because that's how Scotland started. Let's face it.
00:18:17
David Debattista
You know, when their whiskeys first got started 200 years ago, nothing like what they're producing now. Let me show you the same transition from Australia. So there is a lot of conversations that have to be had to get people onto the level of understanding before they even are willing to buy.
00:18:27
Fiona
Thank you.
00:18:34
David Debattista
um
00:18:35
Jez
It's...
00:18:35
David Debattista
I suppose, is that answer to your original question?
00:18:35
Jez
oh
00:18:38
Jez
Well, like we know that a lot of Australians have been burnt by Australian whiskey. So it's it's purely just trying to guide that narrative into a place where people feel comfortable enough to try whiskey. That's where I'd say the whiskey shows are great because you just get plenty of exposure to a heap of Australian brands. And then you're like, all right, well, now you've tried these ones, which ones do you actually enjoy? And then you can just go in hard and try those. But I know you love talking about...
00:19:05
Jez
Whiskey, so did you want to take me through one of the releases you sent
Aurora Australis Whiskey Spotlight
00:19:10
Jez
me up? What do you have kicking around on your bar you could kind of take me through?
00:19:14
David Debattista
Sure, sure.
00:19:14
Fiona
Sorry.
00:19:14
David Debattista
Maybe, maybe let's start at the start from the series that we sent you.
00:19:18
Jez
Yep.
00:19:19
David Debattista
We'll start you with the Aurora Australis.
00:19:22
Jez
Yep, that is... Yep, in my hand right here. These are the fanciest sample bottles I've ever seen in my life. these That's going to be...
00:19:31
David Debattista
They're actually our 200 mil range. So we actually do sell them retail. So they're not made just for samples.
00:19:35
Jez
Yeah. No, but like...
00:19:37
David Debattista
They're currently rolling their way up onto the mainland and give backs and then individual representation as well.
00:19:44
Jez
It is the coolest way to receive a ah product though because you get brands that are like, oh yeah, we'll you know we'll knock out a 200 mil sample and it's got this sticker on the front and it's like below average on the time and effort put in, the thought put into like a 200 mil sample is...
00:19:53
Fiona
but
00:20:03
Jez
incredible like it's all marked on the front there's a um like marked as in branding on the front it's all i love it yeah all right i gotta get a glass because i'm gonna
00:20:09
David Debattista
Yeah, our CEO, Derek, would probably never allow us to send out a ah sticky tape labelled mini bottle for a tasting for just this occasion. Someone holds that up to a camera, he'd be like, that's why we don't.
00:20:22
Jez
that is no spot on it
00:20:22
Fiona
ah system
00:20:22
David Debattista
So a lot of work did go into that that branding.
00:20:27
Fiona
Yep.
00:20:28
David Debattista
um I'm sure many people remember the old Hellier's Road branding, are tall, thin bottles, um you know, with the men and the dog on the label um and that liquid.
00:20:39
David Debattista
in those bottles was in there for nearly 20 years. And, you know, when we see these big brands over in Scotland, like Glanfittic, Macallan, they update their packaging these days about every six, seven years, it feels.
00:20:50
Jez
six, seven months?
00:20:50
David Debattista
You know, yeah, true.
00:20:50
Jez
What are you talking about? It's just like, yeah, new relation.
00:20:55
David Debattista
it was definitely due for an update um so that the effort that went into the rebrand, into the full-size bottles, into those mini ones that you see there, and just the imagery and everything that went into it has done
00:20:58
Jez
Hmm.
00:21:08
David Debattista
leaps and bounds a lot of the work for us to reposition the product back into market. um And now with Fiona's blending and distillation going into the these liquids as well, that has now brought the liquid up to the level of which it's now represented as well.
00:21:24
David Debattista
So it's definitely ah seen a marketed shift in the last ah few years of in-market visibility and appreciation now.
00:21:35
Jez
I realize I don't have any nails and I'm trying to open this plastic cap.
00:21:35
Fiona
Oh, that's a cluster cap, sorry.
00:21:39
Jez
It's defeated
00:21:41
Fiona
um
00:21:41
Jez
Yeah, that's how get it done.
00:21:42
Fiona
The Tampa Seals are a necessary evil, unfortunately.
00:21:43
David Debattista
ah
00:21:47
Jez
Nose, you know what? I'm all about it it. is secure just to keep me out, I guess.
00:21:49
Fiona
Yeah.
00:21:51
Jez
that's As I did say, childproof.
00:21:52
Fiona
Yeah.
00:21:53
David Debattista
Well, we do those little bottles, those 200ml bottles with a um ah partner of ours, the tasman hobart ah the Tasman down in Hobart, beautiful hotel.
00:21:55
Jez
There
00:22:03
Jez
hey we go.
00:22:05
David Debattista
And they love those Tampa Seals because their room service can know as soon as they look at the bottle. I don't know someone's opened it straight away.
00:22:09
Fiona
ah Whether it's in.
00:22:09
Jez
Ah.
00:22:10
Fiona
There's not tea in there.
00:22:11
Jez
Amazing.
00:22:12
David Debattista
And they know to bill that client's credit card as a result.
00:22:13
Fiona
one's put salt tea in there.
00:22:16
David Debattista
yeah
00:22:18
Fiona
um Yeah, so this this one, Aurora.
00:22:19
David Debattista
But, yeah, so this Aurora Australis, you tell us all about the liquid fee because you're the one that made it
00:22:20
Fiona
I'm sorry. yes yeah
00:22:26
Fiona
Sure. So this one... um We call this our breakfast whisky. know if you're familiar with the but it's the whisky for all occasions essentially.
00:22:35
Jez
All about it.
00:22:36
Fiona
So it is um slightly lower in alcohol than our sort of house alcohol content. So it's down at 40%. Our normal house ABV is 46.2.
00:22:50
Fiona
um So a little bit lighter on the alcohol and it is ah made to be aye infinitely approachable, hence the term breakfast whisky, but be at a price point um below $100 so that it's, ah again, it's about getting that liquid on lips, encouraging Australian consumers to give the brand another crack um and taste the new Hellier's Road.
00:23:20
Fiona
So this is um an American oak base in this whisky. uh predominantly american oat matured whiskey uh but with a sprinkling of different finishing casks that give it um a little bit of zhuzh and it' it's like going to your spice drawer i always say it's about the the two whiskeys roaring 40s and aurora australis it's about going to the spice drawer in your kitchen and deciding know i'm going to cook a curry maybe or a I don't know, a Bolognese, two quite different whiskies, but they've they've got those different finishing casks in them that give them that take them in a different direction, those two whiskies. They're essentially the same American oak base.
00:24:01
Fiona
um So I can tell you that the Aurora has a tiny pinch of... about 4.5% of Vinsanto cask finish. There's an insanely um lush Italian dessert wine, ah tiny little 50-litre finishing casks that were absolutely bonkers um when they came in. They were just super sweet and crazy.
00:24:26
Fiona
ah It's got a pinch of that. It's got some French oak finishing in there. to give it so a little bit more structure ah those french oak tannins giving a little bit more structure it was a little bit sort of um derek's term flabby without without that french factor to give it that structure um what else has that got in it it has absolutely yeah yeah and it has um
00:24:45
Jez
French hook is great for structure though. Just kind of brings it all back in.
00:24:53
Fiona
ah one that you will not have heard of, I ah doubt, Canadian Bareface Whiskey Finishing. So they use um three different cast types in their in their whiskey and the finishing cast, oh, really?
00:25:01
Jez
Yup.
00:25:09
Fiona
No way. That's so cool.
00:25:10
Jez
Here's what I've prepared earlier.
00:25:12
Fiona
Amazing. Very cool. I'm not saying that.
00:25:14
Jez
I could probably tell you the cast types they use, but that's just the nerd in me.
00:25:15
Fiona
ah Yeah, they use like Hungarian oak, red wine cast. So the cast that we had for finishing were the red wine portion or that that portion in its journey.
00:25:20
Jez
Yep.
00:25:28
Fiona
um so and But it obviously had their whiskey in it, which gives it this nice little icing sugar, little, yeah, real little sweet icing sugar note.
00:25:39
Fiona
um Yeah, so it's, as I said, infinitely approachable, great price point. um and a great way to introduce people to the Hellys Road brand.
00:25:51
Jez
It's so interesting you said icing sugar because I was nosy and I was like, I thought it was a cherry ripe and I was like, no, i'm I'm pretty sure it's a cherry ripe.
00:26:02
Jez
And then you said icing sugar and I'm like, oh, it's a whole different ball game now.
00:26:05
Fiona
separate Okay.
00:26:08
Fiona
Yeah, cool.
00:26:08
Jez
I'm like, maybe now it's like, I don't know, it's more like a mound of icing sugar and it's like, don't know, a little bit of coconut going on there.
00:26:18
Fiona
Yeah.
00:26:19
David Debattista
Yeah. And Fiona touched on it there.
00:26:21
Jez
and That is...
00:26:23
David Debattista
Like this is designed for people to step into the brand again after maybe trying it a long time ago, probably buying a cheap one that wasn't very nice and going, oh, that was no good and never coming back to it.
00:26:29
Jez
Hmm.
00:26:36
David Debattista
You we wanted to give them an easy entry into the category. And for Australian whiskey, that usually revolves around price.
00:26:44
Jez
Hmm.
00:26:44
David Debattista
Let's face it. You know, people are ah afraid.
00:26:45
Fiona
yeah
00:26:47
David Debattista
to test an Australian whiskey because chances are it's stupid expensive.
00:26:52
Fiona
Thank you.
00:26:52
David Debattista
um So, I mean, this, like Fiona touched on quickly, this is a 700ml bottle. Hell's Road was filled in a 700ml
00:26:52
Jez
Yeah.
Composition and Flavor of Aurora Australis
00:26:59
David Debattista
bottle. Your Australis here, 700ml on shelf, 99 bucks for 100% Tasmanian single malt too.
00:27:08
David Debattista
This isn't a blend.
00:27:08
Jez
yeah
00:27:09
David Debattista
It's not mixed in with any grain spirit or anything like that. This is 100% made at the distillery. and then blended by Fiona at the end. So we're representing good value to people, you know, because we're giving them 700 mils of Tasmanian whiskey at a price approachable point.
00:27:24
David Debattista
Yeah, it's my job to go see venues. I'll tell them, make a whiskey sour with it. You don't have to be precious. You know, is this comes in, you know, it's like $3.80 a shot, LUC, you know.
00:27:30
Jez
No.
00:27:33
Jez
Yeah.
00:27:34
David Debattista
You can play with it. Don't be afraid, oh, you know, it's Tassie whiskey. You can only have it neat, you know, with one tepid water drop, like Faye was saying. You know, this is designed for people to really play around when they do whiskey sours with it.
00:27:47
David Debattista
You know, it's really, really fun. Have it in a mixer, whatever. You know, as long as you enjoy it, that's what counts.
00:27:50
Jez
yeah
00:27:52
David Debattista
And I think that's part of where that success lies because it's a good price point. But when people try it, they go, so actually quite approachable. and I don't mind that. It's nice. It's good. It's there. It ticks all those boxes.
00:28:03
David Debattista
So for me, it's a game changer conversation because I can say, here's a Tassie whiskey that's not going to cost you the earth.
00:28:11
Jez
Well, the Australian palates are so sweet as well. So the fact that you're bringing them in and you're like, right, we've got these all these different kinds of sweet casks going on.
00:28:14
David Debattista
um
00:28:19
Jez
And it's really, i'd say, softening that malt. Because once again, I don't drink, well, I ah drink a little bit of Australian whiskey, but it's like, as you can see, there's bourbon behind me.
00:28:24
David Debattista
ah
00:28:29
Jez
It's like, it's sweet palate. So it's like, all right, we're using these bourbon casts.
00:28:31
Fiona
Yeah.
00:28:33
Jez
We've got little bit of sweetness going on here. And it's like, oh okay, this is actually approachable for me. It's like, this is actually something I can sit on and it's not going to essentially blow out the palate.
00:28:44
Jez
And you're not going to be able to go to something else next because you're like, i the palate's cooked for the rest of the night.
00:28:52
Fiona
Awesome.
00:28:53
David Debattista
Hmm.
00:28:54
Jez
High praise is what I'm saying.
00:28:55
David Debattista
So.
00:28:55
Jez
Well done.
00:28:56
Fiona
Thank you. Yeah. So that's
00:28:59
David Debattista
Fiona did a good job considering this was what, this was something we only introduced at the start of the year, wasn't it?
00:29:05
Fiona
Yeah, we'd been working through um all the sensory and um sort of blind tasting for a few months to sort of perfect the the two whiskeys, Roaring Forties and Aurora Australis, for this sort of project to get this launched in this and this year.
00:29:24
Fiona
and And that was great fun to actually send out – um We did a competitor set tasting over Christmas, which was really, really interesting to send out a bunch of our whiskies mixed in with Scottish whiskies and some Australian ones and see, you know, where do we where do we sit?
00:29:44
Fiona
it was all blind tasting and no one knew what they were tasting. They all had to, you know, enter in the little codes on the bottles and do it that way.
00:29:51
Jez
Mm-hmm.
00:29:52
Fiona
Yeah. Yeah, it was really exciting um for me to get that sort of validation, yes, we're on the right track with these whiskies. They're grading really well against a whole range of Scottish and Australian whiskies.
00:30:08
Fiona
Let's roll with it because, you know, the price point for our whiskies was way below any of the Aussie whiskies that went into that blind tasting. So, um yeah, we're definitely on the right track.
00:30:22
Jez
No, that's great. It's such an approachable whiskey. A great way to kind of open people's minds back into the fold now.
00:30:33
Fiona
Awesome.
00:30:33
Jez
Going, hey, let's try that. um Thank you for sharing that one with me. What should we move to next? so Because I'm very curious. Like if that one is opening up.
00:30:45
David Debattista
I think did we have we had Aurora Australis, then we have a peated seven-year-old,
00:30:50
Fiona
What? Wait.
00:30:50
Jez
Mm-hmm.
00:30:52
David Debattista
and the Oloroso 10-year-old, and then we go up to the Voyager.
00:30:55
Jez
Ooh.
00:30:57
David Debattista
So I would probably say leave let's park the Pete to the end
Oloroso Cask Whiskey Maturation
00:31:00
Jez
Yep.
00:31:01
David Debattista
and go to the Oloroso 10-year-old.
00:31:02
David Debattista
What reckon?
00:31:03
Jez
Done. Use my handy card here to open the copy back up.
00:31:07
David Debattista
yes
00:31:09
Jez
God, these seals are great.
00:31:14
Jez
Ah, yes.
00:31:14
David Debattista
Keep our warehousing team happy at least. They did their job well.
00:31:16
Jez
Yeah, absolutely.
00:31:21
Fiona
Okay.
00:31:21
David Debattista
yeah
00:31:22
David Debattista
I suppose ah it's a good um point to touch on too because we were talking about age previously, about those older whiskeys and um this whiskey that we're about to pour once you get through that indestructible seal.
00:31:37
David Debattista
ah
00:31:37
Jez
Oh, no, it's off. I'm just trying to make sure I can put the cork back in the glass.
00:31:38
David Debattista
is good
00:31:42
Jez
Let me rinse it.
00:31:42
David Debattista
um This whiskey, the Olorosa Yerez, this is 10 years of age. This is still part of our core range though. You know, so even though this is 10 years, by most Australian whiskeys, this would be considered old.
00:31:56
David Debattista
For us, this is part of our core range younger set that we put out to market. So we're quite lucky, and Fiona will touch on it, because no one knows the casks better than Fiona.
00:32:07
David Debattista
If I need to get to any, have to get through her.
00:32:09
Fiona
perfect
00:32:09
David Debattista
um But, like, this is, you know, ah something of what I'm quite lucky. I'm spoilt for riches to have a 10-year-old Australian whisky that i can offer to people at a really competitive price point um and the liquid speak for itself that's what i think sets hellyes apart
00:32:27
Jez
I was going to ask, what is the Bond store mainly made up of then? Because obviously you've inherited a lot of casts from previous generations. And now your, I'd say your core range is now 10. And he said it's on the younger side. Where are you guys kind of sitting?
00:32:46
Fiona
Oh, as in age statement-wise throughout the Bond store?
00:32:49
Jez
Like age statement wise, yeah.
00:32:50
Fiona
Yes. um Definitely It's been an interesting business over the years, I guess, because they did have a hiatus or um not a complete hiatus, but they did have a period where they didn't produce a lot.
00:33:07
Fiona
I don't know if you know the full history of Helly's, but it was um actually started by the Better Milk Co-op. So they actually had the milk company for most of the time that that portion of the business was sold off in 2019.
00:33:22
Fiona
So at various times their focus shifted back to to that business, which was the breadwinner. So most distilleries um these days, it' like sorry?
00:33:31
Jez
Milkwinner.
00:33:34
Jez
Milkwinner.
00:33:34
Fiona
Yeah, that's it. So, you know, they...
00:33:36
Jez
Yeah.
00:33:37
David Debattista
You
00:33:38
Fiona
ah
00:33:38
Jez
It was the other company.
00:33:41
Fiona
um So most distilleries would have... gin or something as their cash cow while they, um, wait for their brown spirits to mature, not cash cow, but you know what it mean?
00:33:55
Fiona
Like it's their cash flow.
00:33:56
Jez
Milk cow. I got you.
00:33:57
Fiona
Cash flow. Yeah.
00:33:58
Jez
Yep.
00:33:58
Fiona
So, um, And for Hellia's it was better milk. So at various times through the history they've sort of refocused back on milk and sort of parked the distillery for a bit.
00:34:12
Fiona
um So there's a lot of old, old, old stuff and there's a bit of a gap. And then there's um from 2014 on there's, again, a steady increase in production through to ah the last couple of years we've smashed our KPIs and and laid down loads of tasks. So, yes, there's a lot of young stuff in our bond stores and there's a lot of old stuff, but in between there is sort of interesting period of um not a hell of lot, to put it plainly.
00:34:46
Jez
okay As it happens though, like, you know.
00:34:48
Fiona
So it does, it does. You know, there's, you know, many other distilleries would understand that the pull and push of, oh, can I afford malt? Can I afford yeast?
00:34:59
Fiona
You know, to run our um distillery because we have an electric boiler, ah it's at the moment 40 grand a month in electricity just to turn the thing on.
00:35:10
Jez
Wow. Yeah, that's mental.
00:35:12
Fiona
So that's quite yeah quite a slide from, um you know, we we mash in five and a half tonne of malt per run and that's twice a week plus the yeast cost. It's an expensive business to lay down casks and then sit on them for for as long as we do. Maybe.
00:35:30
Fiona
um
00:35:30
Jez
You're better off selling milk.
00:35:30
David Debattista
What's the ah saying, Fi, when the stills get turned on, the town knows.
00:35:31
Jez
milk
00:35:32
Fiona
maybe
00:35:36
Fiona
Yeah.
00:35:36
David Debattista
You know, we pull that much power and that much water, it kicks.
00:35:38
Fiona
And look, and yeah, but and we'll we'll get to it later on when you have a look at the whiskey cream, but um these days the whiskey cream is, um I suppose, what brings in that steady income to allow us.
00:35:54
Jez
i was I was going to touch on that as well.
00:35:56
Fiona
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we can um talk about that when you get to taste it, I suppose. But, yeah, so we still...
00:36:04
David Debattista
Hmm.
00:36:04
Jez
Amazing.
00:36:05
Fiona
keep those those dairy roots going with the whiskey cream.
00:36:10
Jez
So ah take me through this Oloroso cask. Oloroso is one of my favorite cask finishings.
00:36:19
Fiona
This is not a finishing though.
00:36:19
Jez
um so
00:36:21
Fiona
Yeah.
00:36:21
Jez
ah
00:36:23
Fiona
This is full life maturation in Australia.
00:36:24
Jez
Full maturation, I like it.
00:36:29
Fiona
you had to understand the... um The differences that our climate has whisky is not the same as a sherry cask out of Scotland. Very different, but they are...
00:36:40
Jez
I love
00:36:42
Fiona
Yeah, full-life maturation in two hundred and fifty litre ah legit Oloroso casks came over in a big shipment in 2014. I have seen the meeting minutes where they're all fretting about, oh, my God, these casks are so expensive. They better be bloody amazing.
00:36:59
Fiona
um And then they just filled them straight up with new make. Amazing. actually Such a great thing to do, yeah.
00:37:03
Jez
ah love it
00:37:05
Fiona
And we've got a big um packet of – Sepulchfield Tawny Port casks at the same time. So there's, in 2014, there's this bonkers package of, um, yeah, fully matured port and Sherry casks.
00:37:18
Fiona
So, um, a few years ago, ah we released this as a seven year old, um, our seven year old Sherry and,
00:37:19
Jez
you
00:37:27
Fiona
In in a short three years, the whiskey has changed so much. So the the seven-year-old, in my mind, was – um hello it was you know, quite bright and fresh and it had some sort of sharp corners in in my mind and and the tasting.
00:37:46
Fiona
But now 10 years later, this this whiskey has ah got old and fat and it's just loaded with umami and a really rich palate.
00:37:57
Fiona
So it's bonkers.
00:37:59
Jez
Say that nose is so creamy.
00:37:59
Fiona
It's huge. It's a huge whiskey on the nose and palate. So,
00:38:06
Jez
Yeah. Where did you guys source your cuss from, if you know? Mmm.
00:38:10
Fiona
I don't know the bodega, sorry, for these casks. aye Again, record keeping ah somewhat.
00:38:17
Jez
Mmm.
00:38:19
Fiona
ah could I could have another dig. I'm sure there's something somewhere. But they're but but relatively unmarked, these casks.
00:38:24
Jez
Ah, it's delicious.
00:38:27
Fiona
They're not stamped. So, yeah. And there's a smattering of PX casks in amongst them too, and you yeah only know they're a PX by stamp on the back of them.
00:38:30
Jez
Interesting.
00:38:33
Jez
Oh.
00:38:35
Fiona
It's random.
00:38:36
Jez
Yeah.
00:38:38
David Debattista
A lot of um people's wanting to know about their specific sourcing, I think, works when you're buying maybe a few here or there.
00:38:48
Jez
Mm-mm.
00:38:48
David Debattista
You know, like, you know, you're calling an old chap that, you know, and you're like, hey, I've got enough money to scratch together for, you know, two or three cars. What can you get for me? But Like I've seen it even like last November we had a huge influx of casks come into the distillery and made sure I was there that day.
00:39:05
David Debattista
And literally these shipping containers, 40-foot shipping containers come in, they get pulled off the back of the truck, the seal gets cracked, the doors open and you look in and there's 300 casks crammed into every nook and cranny. The door's open, the casks are about to fly out at you they're that tightly in because these cask brokers that we use and these people that source these casks for us,
00:39:26
David Debattista
They're sourcing from here, there and everywhere. We're filling every inch of that container. So, you know, we're not going to say, I only want casks from such and such.
00:39:35
Jez
A certain, yep.
00:39:36
David Debattista
You know, we want we we need volume. When Fiona does a full mash in, you're filling up yeah know up to 30, 200 litre casks per spirit run when it's full.
00:39:44
Fiona
Oh wait, yeah, oh wait, no, that's okay, wait, yeah.
00:39:45
David Debattista
Yeah.
00:39:46
Jez
Mental.
00:39:47
Fiona
Yeah, that's that's over two runs.
00:39:48
David Debattista
So we're not we're not looking at, yeah, we're not looking at, you know, just one or two here or there. Fiona needs to move that new make into wood. straight away.
00:39:56
Jez
Yeah.
00:39:56
David Debattista
So we need volume.
00:39:56
Fiona
So, yeah, like and it's...
00:39:57
David Debattista
So, you know, <unk>re we're getting lots of types.
00:40:01
Fiona
It's the tricky thing about being on the other side of the world too. You you are reliant on brokers to um do the right thing and also the bodegas on the other side of the world to to also do the right thing. So, um yeah, I can't say too much about the cast from 2014, but I do know that the whiskey is fantastic.
00:40:22
Fiona
um But, you know, otherwise cast sourcing, we do have um partners that we've worked with for, you know, 20-odd years ah for bourbon cask sourcing, so that's quite um steady.
00:40:37
Fiona
And since 2016 for bourbon casks we've been sourcing Heaven Hill A-grade select bourbons. But, yeah, the sherrys,
00:40:45
Jez
Yeah. Heaven Hill is such a great distillery to source barrels from as well.
00:40:49
Fiona
yeah, yeah, and they, yeah, nice.
00:40:49
Jez
Yeah. Kelvin does some incredible work.
00:40:55
Fiona
But, yeah, the sherry and the bodegas,
00:40:55
David Debattista
How good was um that container?
00:40:58
Fiona
Different story. So yeah, Sherry cast it.
00:41:00
David Debattista
Fee, what about that um that American oak container last year in November? remember we opened it up and it was like all those Barton casks and then it was like Buzzard's Roost and
00:41:09
Fiona
Oh, that was, yeah.
00:41:10
Jez
Yep.
00:41:10
David Debattista
Sagamore spirit casks and like so many different things it was like it was like a candy store Fee and I were rolling and it was hot as fuck and we're like wheeling casks out into the courtyard we're like looking at the heads going what's this one and what's that one and what's this oh my god I'm sending pictures to but remember sending pictures to Ray at Barrow and Batch going you know this distillery is this any good you know what about this is this any good yeah and it was just it was crazy
00:41:12
Fiona
So,
00:41:15
Jez
Hmm.
00:41:22
Jez
Love it.
00:41:24
Fiona
yeah.
00:41:28
Jez
Yeah.
00:41:33
Fiona
So again, like, yeah, we had to go through a barrel broker. There there was a period I think last year where in the States they were holding onto their barrels and not wanting to let them outside the country. um They were trying to, I think it's part of a bit of a plan.
00:41:55
Fiona
It was just really annoying. Yeah.
00:41:57
David Debattista
Oh. Hmm.
00:41:58
Jez
You're back.
Bond Store Management Challenges
00:41:59
Fiona
Goodo. Yeah, so part of ah a bit of a plan to kind of pull things back to the States and and not let those casks offshore because, that you know, they've got other spirits industries that are now sprouting up and using those ex-bourbons in America. So they necessarily don't need to send them offshore.
00:42:19
Fiona
So, yeah, there was a ah problem getting casks last year. So we did get um that load through ah barrel broker. But it was really cool because those Barton casts are amazing.
00:42:30
Fiona
Can't wait to see those um come to maturation.
00:42:32
David Debattista
Mm-hmm.
00:42:34
Fiona
Yeah.
00:42:36
Jez
What would be your your full cycle on, say, that Barton barrel? Would you just go in and and taste it and see where it's kind of sitting? Or would you say, all right, look, we're going to run it for, say, 10, 15, 20 years?
00:42:49
Fiona
um Excuse me, sorry.
00:42:53
Fiona
So we'd probably start looking at them at that four-year mark. ah So we'll probably park them for at least three years and not probably look at them. um Warehousing, mean, you know what and moving moving barrels around is like.
00:42:53
Jez
yeah
00:43:08
Fiona
It's a bloody nightmare for – there's a lot of man hours and –
00:43:12
Jez
It's like 500 and some kilos.
00:43:14
Fiona
Yeah, and and just, you know, it's all on racking.
00:43:14
Jez
No, thanks.
00:43:17
Fiona
It's got to go into a warehouse. You've got to pull it all out with forklift. And it's not the easiest thing in the world just to go and I'm going to go sample some barrels today. and So, yeah two yeah, probably two or three years we'll park those casks and in one of the off-site bond stores.
00:43:27
David Debattista
Mm-hmm.
00:43:33
Fiona
not look at them and then at that three year mark we'll start sampling and assessing and seeing how they're traveling um so one of the advantages is obviously in in the off-site bond stores in tassie is that they're the good old tin shed uh so they've got a bit more of that diurnal variation in temperature um they're nice and close to the ocean so we get that nice um salinity and uh exposure Bass Strait, which is the ocean out front, which is pretty tumultuous and and crazy, brings some pretty good weather.
00:44:06
Fiona
um So we like the influence influence um that that has on our whiskey. ah So, yeah, it's a completely different maturation environment to what we have on site, which is a big concrete bunker, essentially, the on-site bond stores.
00:44:23
Fiona
So a lot of the old stuff's been pulled back to the on-site Bond store to sit and chill out in the the nice cool depths of our racking. um Yeah, so that three-year mark, we start looking at them and potentially on how they're tracking, they might get used for, you know, or go into finishing casts to be prepared for something like Aurora, Roaring 40s or FIBA.
00:44:47
Fiona
at that five-year mark, we'd be looking at putting them into finishing for um double casks. So they'd be going into the X-Pen-On-Y casks from around the state.
00:44:59
Fiona
um And if they're really exceptional, where we might earmark them to sit as are a single cask and see how they're travelling at that maybe that eight or ten-year mark.
00:45:12
Fiona
and see if they're still tracking as maybe single cast, we'd leave them and earmark them in in the register potential single cast, hold on until X date to assess again.
00:45:25
Fiona
um But if they're not earmarked, they're generally fair game to go into a finishing or or something else. But we do do keep a whole chunk as straight American oak for, ah you know, either single cast or a straight American oak.
00:45:41
Fiona
um release ah Well, that's an ah and historical
00:45:44
Jez
That's great.
00:45:44
David Debattista
Mm-hmm.
00:45:44
Jez
I was going to ask you, um the Oloroso 10-year, it's bottled at 46.2%. What made you decide that was the perfect bottling strength?
00:46:00
Fiona
thing for Hellia's, that's our house ABV, ah but also it's above that magic 46% mark, which limits the amount of flocking. So we are non-coloured and non-chill filtered in any of our whiskies, which is going to be interesting actually for the roaring 40s and Aurora that are lower in ABV to see how they go with flocking. But it's just um to minimise the amount of flocking that we get from those... um you know, heavy oils and things coming out of the wood and also from the distillation.
00:46:33
Fiona
So that's that just that magic um alcohol that sort of helps to keep those compounds in suspension versus clumping them up.
00:46:44
Jez
Yeah.
00:46:47
Jez
yeah
00:46:47
David Debattista
I tell you, you've got to see these Bond stores too, Jez. Like that is what got me over the line in the end to go and work for Helliers.
00:46:50
Jez
yeah
00:46:56
David Debattista
Like when you stand in Bond store one, so that's the one at the distillery, you know, there's over 2,400 casks in there. They're all full-size casks too. That's not, you little dinky ones.
00:47:08
David Debattista
That's 200 litres and above. You stand there and you look at the cask heads, they go I don't know how many barrels high is it, Fee? Like, don't even know.
00:47:16
Fiona
ah Seven seven high seven deep are the rows on one side, five deep on the other.
00:47:17
David Debattista
ah
00:47:21
Jez
Oh.
00:47:22
Fiona
um
00:47:23
David Debattista
yeah
00:47:23
Fiona
Yeah, so there's there's a lot of casks in that room, yeah.
00:47:27
David Debattista
And you look at, that is the, exactly, that's the distillation history of Australia in there.
00:47:27
Fiona
and And some of the oldest whiskey, yeah.
00:47:33
David Debattista
Like, you stand up there and you look at casks that are from 2002, 2003, that are still aging away in there, you know, and you're just like, oh, shit, I didn't realize that. You can read the types of barley the guys put that on the front of the casks.
00:47:47
David Debattista
So can look up and read Planet and Franklin and all those types of things there and literally read your way through through the history. And if you understand the codes and and the colours and what they mean, you know, even the experiments that Fee touched on earlier, you know, there are whiskeys in there that have never been released in Australia before that still haven't seen the light of day, that ah types of whiskeys that people wouldn't have even known have been made in the state or in the country.
00:47:57
Fiona
Thank you.
00:48:13
David Debattista
for that, that have significant age on them. So that excitement and that that depth of history, when people come and do the tour and then see that, that's where I think they start to realise that the sheer scope of the distillery and how it was built back in the day.
00:48:29
David Debattista
know, everybody thinks everything was a benchtop still, you know, I found this at the local market and started boiling up a bottle of VB and, you figured out how to, how to, how to make a whiskey, you know, Hellia's wasn't like that.
00:48:41
David Debattista
Hellia's was built by that dairy cooperative that Fiona talked about so with a mindset of let's build this distillery. So in the future, we've got enough liquid to sell to the world, you know, and when you see it, like the, the room with the stills and all the equipment in it, it's almost hard to decipher. There's so much going on
Historical Significance of Hellia's Road
00:49:00
David Debattista
in there.
00:49:01
David Debattista
you know, the stills are enormous. The, the grain silos, the equipment, the mash tun is an engineering feat onto itself. You know, you look at all this and you're like, Jesus Christ, this fucking enormous.
00:49:12
David Debattista
yeah And it was, you know, at the time. That was the was the biggest distillery in the Southern Hemisphere. You know, it's massive.
00:49:18
Fiona
we We had the biggest wash still until just recently, actually. I think we got trumped by a rum distillery somewhere.
00:49:23
David Debattista
Crazy.
00:49:24
Fiona
I'm not sure where the rum distillery is, but I know there's one that's bigger in the southern hemisphere now. But the um the the wash still is 60,000 litres in total capacity.
00:49:34
Jez
Good lord.
00:49:35
Fiona
like yeah It's massive. So, you know, even by Scottish standards, that's huge.
00:49:43
Jez
Yeah.
00:49:44
Fiona
But it it comes with a caveat.
00:49:45
David Debattista
It's massive. Incredible.
00:49:45
Fiona
It does come with a caveat. It takes 50-something hours to distill out. That's why we're not pumping out, like, enormous volumes because it's literally two runs a week is what we can manage around the various...
00:49:59
Jez
Yeah.
00:50:01
Fiona
idiosyncrasies um from the plant, which, you know, they all add. It's like the indelible fingerprint of Hellia's Road is um all those quirks that that are from that um that distillery. It's really cool.
00:50:16
Fiona
It's like, oh, we have to do it this way because of this and that and that, but it all adds to that. um Really, really interesting and, um yeah, it's definitely a Hellia's whiskey, you know. People can pick it.
00:50:31
Fiona
We
00:50:33
Jez
Well, i can't believe how good this is. It is mind-blowing that it can sit in a ah sherry cask for 10 years and still come out so syrupy. And even at 46%, am very surprised.
00:50:53
Fiona
were taking more of that today actually for bottling that sherry cask.
00:50:57
Jez
yeah
00:50:58
Fiona
um God, it smelled good. It smelled so good.
00:51:02
Jez
Dangerous. There's no way I could be. it There's no way I could work there. I'd just be like, oh, just ah just a little taste. just
00:51:07
Fiona
Well, it's part of your job.
00:51:08
Jez
I'd be cooked by lunch.
00:51:09
Fiona
if you If you work there, it's your job. So there is. but
00:51:13
David Debattista
And Faye, probably just to touch on
00:51:15
Fiona
Yeah.
00:51:16
David Debattista
So this isn't like a single cast release, right? Like this is done in volume.
00:51:20
Fiona
No.
00:51:22
David Debattista
You know, there are many casts that go into this final blend that Fe's created to create this flavor profile. And like she said, tipping some more just now, even, you know, to create more liquid to feed this release.
00:51:31
Fiona
Yeah.
00:51:31
Jez
No.
00:51:33
David Debattista
We're not doing a, you know, this is one batch of 200 bottles. There's thousands of bottles in this. You know, we sell this all over Australia. We sell this internationally as well, you know, so, you know, for the brand,
00:51:46
David Debattista
You know, where we've been predominantly probably American oak known, you know, to have the foresight back in 2014 to have bought these sherry casks and filled them in for a 10 year maturation is that is pretty forward thinking and pretty special, I think, in my opinion.
00:51:50
Fiona
up
00:52:02
Fiona
Absolutely.
00:52:02
Jez
Well, it's funny you bring up American Oat because i have 20 year hands here. and my hands here
00:52:09
Fiona
Okay. Is that the Oloroso finish? Where is it?
00:52:14
Jez
16 years ex-bourbon, then secondary maturation, four years French oak.
00:52:17
David Debattista
Voyager.
00:52:20
Fiona
Oh, that's Voyager cask.
00:52:20
Jez
French oak liqueur.
00:52:20
David Debattista
Voyager.
00:52:22
Fiona
Yeah, Voyager cask.
00:52:24
Jez
Voyager, yeah.
00:52:25
Fiona
Yeah. So this one...
00:52:26
David Debattista
Voyager. That is...
00:52:29
Fiona
This won gold at World Whiskey Awards this year this because we've done this is the the third Voyager cask.
00:52:35
Jez
Congratulations.
00:52:38
Fiona
So we had a ah series of casks that were from, um you know, there's a bit of a story around the liqueur casks that they were filled into.
00:52:38
Jez
Mm-hmm.
00:52:48
Fiona
ah um Frogmore Creek Pinot Noir and then from there, to a French patissier in Hobart, Jean Pascal, who's quite a legend in Hobart for his um sort of bakery delights.
00:53:04
Fiona
And he so essentially macerated the fruit for his fruit mince pies in in brandy in those casks, and then, ah you know, used these fruit, sent the casks back to Frogmore Creek, and they then popped in their ruby pinot,
00:53:13
Jez
stop it
00:53:23
Fiona
And then when they decanted that, then they came to us. So they're bonkers cars.
00:53:28
Jez
amazing
00:53:30
Fiona
We recently got another couple of those and they smell absolutely divine. um Yeah, so the third release and 20 years old.
00:53:40
David Debattista
Probably to touch on that, Fiona probably talks it down a little because we're obviously used to it all the time. But this is a pretty bloody remarkable whiskey. I mean, the fact alone that Fiona had 16-year-old American oak casks that she could then play with, yeah, and then finish in these remarkable casks is amazing.
00:53:54
Jez
just lying around.
00:53:56
Fiona
yeah
00:54:00
David Debattista
But not just that, it's the fact that she has created this as a series.
00:54:01
Fiona
Thank you.
00:54:05
David Debattista
So there's, like she mentioned, one cask finishes, There's another one ready to go afterwards and another one ready to go after that and so forth. This is effectively a 20-year-old whiskey that is part of our core range.
00:54:18
David Debattista
So I can sell, I can go into a bar and go, hey, you want to buy a 20-year-old Tasmanian whiskey? Here you And then when that runs out in a year, you want another one?
00:54:28
David Debattista
No worries. Here you go I have more casks from this series coming along. She's been able to create a product that's consistent from cask to cask. and something that we can continue to take to market at a very competitive price point.
00:54:41
David Debattista
but no No denying it, it's a luxury product, but this is a whiskey with age out of Australia that's unheard of, that's consistently available and is award-winning.
00:54:51
Jez
And availability is key.
00:54:53
David Debattista
Exactly. And incredibly award-winning. Like these series of casks that Fiona's nurtured and carried through just in the last calendar year, 2024,
00:54:58
Fiona
Okay.
00:55:04
David Debattista
twenty twenty four won Best Small Batch at the World Whiskey Awards for Australia. It won double gold, San Francisco Spirit Awards. It won 93 points out of 100 at the IWSC.
00:55:16
David Debattista
It won gold at the Whiskey Masters over in the yeah UK as well. And then just this one that we're trying right now, which has just only been in market like a month really, that also won Best at the World Whiskey Awards for 2025 too.
00:55:31
David Debattista
So it shows the consistency across these cars that Fiona's nurturing and looking after. bringing to market a world class. These are getting internationally accoladed as being world class.
00:55:42
David Debattista
So this beautiful indulgent liquid that's just world level.
00:55:48
Jez
It's definitely indulgent. i love the nose on this already.
00:55:53
Fiona
So that the next Voyager 22. That's bonkers. yeah But, yeah, this is my favourite one so far.
00:56:03
David Debattista
and what And we maintain this this label
00:56:06
Fiona
The the Voyager 20 is my fave out of these casks.
00:56:11
Jez
Why is it your favourite?
00:56:12
Fiona
I think it's just reached that like peak, pinnacle ah richness that, you know, comes with that magic sort of 20, 21-year-old age statement from us.
00:56:27
Jez
And 54.7
00:56:30
David Debattista
It's just, it's so rich, it's thick, it's viscous, it's got unique flavour, it's got just layers of flavour too.
00:56:30
Jez
as
00:56:32
Fiona
Yeah. Yeah.
00:56:36
Fiona
book yeah
00:56:38
Jez
well is
00:56:38
Fiona
It's got the influence of that French oak, but, it just again, it just has that structure and, ah you know, the richness from that ah sort of interesting history of that cask too.
00:56:51
David Debattista
and
00:56:53
Jez
and fifty four point seven as well is huge For a 20-year-old, like...
00:57:00
Fiona
Well, Is it though? So Hellier's Road is really, Hellier's Road is interesting.
00:57:03
David Debattista
Not for us.
00:57:07
Fiona
Tasmania and Australia has got its own sort of distinct ah maturation environments and we really have a ah real idiosyncrasy here on the coast in that our entry proof going into the barrel is quite often our exit proof.
00:57:23
Jez
Mm-hmm.
00:57:25
Fiona
It doesn't change.
00:57:26
Jez
Oh.
00:57:27
Fiona
So our relative rates of evaporation of alcohol and water must be the same.
00:57:27
Jez
Okay.
00:57:33
Fiona
So they're evaporating at the same rate. and We still years lose our 3% per annum to the angels.
00:57:35
Jez
Yep.
00:57:39
Jez
I was going to ask.
00:57:40
Fiona
Yeah.
00:57:40
Jez
Yep.
00:57:40
Fiona
So 3% in the bond store on site, that's the concrete bunker, and 3% off-site in the the off-site bond stores that are, you know, the good old tin shed down by the the ocean.
00:57:45
Jez
Mm-hmm.
00:57:54
Fiona
So... um so Yeah, really, really interesting quirk of the environment that we have here on the northwest coast. Like it's really temperate up here. We don't get those wild swings in temperature that they get down south.
00:58:08
Fiona
So down south, you know, they'll be – last time I drove back from Hobart, it was minus three driving through the the Midlands and foggy in my car, fully iced up and it was just bonkers.
00:58:16
Jez
Oh.
00:58:21
Fiona
But up here, you know, it's middle of winter, doesn't get much below – 10 degrees, you know, with highs of 13. thirteen
00:58:34
Fiona
And in summer, again, like it's it's really temperate.
00:58:35
Jez
It's insane. Insane.
00:58:37
Fiona
Like we get, you know, low 20s is our average summertime temperature here during the day. So it's really temperate and mild but relatively high humidity, I suppose, as well.
00:58:47
David Debattista
Mm-hmm.
00:58:50
Fiona
um so yeah, interesting weather. So, yeah, we put in we put into those casks at
00:58:54
Jez
Very interesting.
00:59:01
Fiona
close to 70%. So that's not true cask strength, what you're drinking there. So we had to bring that down because 70% alcohol in a bottle is plainly dangerous. um
00:59:11
Jez
ah Yeah, that's ludicrous.
00:59:11
Fiona
Yeah, it was high 60%. 68%, I ah believe, from memory was the what they put into that finishing cask. And, yeah, it brought it down to a much more sensible ABV slowly in cask prior to bottling.
00:59:28
Fiona
So, yeah.
00:59:29
Jez
Oh, awesome. It's exciting to watch it happen in cask as well because you see a different level of viscosity.
00:59:33
Fiona
Yeah, we try and do that. Yeah. We try and do that as much as we can now.
00:59:37
David Debattista
Mm-hmm.
00:59:38
Fiona
um For those, you know, beautiful old rare whiskeys, we bring them down in cask over a couple of months before we even think about pulling it out for bottling.
00:59:49
Fiona
um And, you know, our ah protocols around vetting and marrying and um water additions um have been much improved over the last few years ah to sort of make sure that we give that whiskey its due respect and treat it right just before bottling, you know.
01:00:08
Fiona
No point doing all this wonderful stuff and then smacking in some water just before bottling. So, yeah.
01:00:13
Jez
Just get some Mount Franklin and tip it in.
01:00:15
Fiona
Yeah.
01:00:15
Jez
It's not ah really ideal.
01:00:15
Fiona
So, yeah. yeah so No, yeah.
01:00:22
Jez
Well,
International Collaborations and Brand Impact
01:00:22
Jez
you guys touched on how well you guys have played on the international stage.
01:00:22
Fiona
i
01:00:27
Jez
um One of my favorite pieces of news was you guys were part of the Rare Hair project that um essentially Playboy Spirits was working on.
01:00:28
David Debattista
Thank you.
01:00:38
Jez
How did you find yourself involved in that?
01:00:43
Fiona
So that was pretty crazy. and They reached out to us. They particularly wanted to do um an Australian single malt or a Tasmanian one with age and they must have got wind that we had the volume that they needed, you know,
01:01:03
Fiona
ah We have and still have 90% of Australia's seriously aged single malt whiskey aged 18 years and over. And you'll hear us say that over and over again because it's 100% the truth.
01:01:14
Jez
Yeah.
01:01:16
Fiona
We still have hundreds of barrels in that age group um in our bond stores. um and And, yeah, and they needed serious volume and they wanted something aged over 20 years.
01:01:21
Jez
diebolical.
01:01:27
Fiona
So we were able to offer them, um You know, that was a second fill port secondary maturation that had been in there for four or so years.
01:01:39
Fiona
Oh, yeah, about four years. um seconds But in second fills.
01:01:41
Jez
Yeah.
01:01:45
Fiona
So, you know, it just picked up just enough richness and and beautiful colour.
01:01:46
Jez
Yeah.
01:01:51
Fiona
20 years old and we were able to – weirdly it seemed so wrong at the time that those together and send them across the seas in ibc's baby uh for them to do an independent bottling on the other side of the world it just seemed like oh my god i'm sending 20 year old whiskey in a plastic ibc to america but
01:02:03
Jez
yeah
01:02:13
Fiona
Hey, it got there okay. And um how exciting to see their absolutely gorgeous bottling. um I love those rare hair bottles. They're just so luxe.
01:02:22
Fiona
So very, very exciting moment for us.
01:02:23
Jez
It screams bougie.
01:02:26
Fiona
Screams it.
01:02:26
David Debattista
Yeah,
01:02:26
Fiona
Yeah. So it was really, really exciting for us to see that on the world stage. And it's a beautiful whiskey too.
01:02:33
Jez
did you go see Did you guys see an uptick in, say, international volume? Because you guys had recently just launched in the, ah say, travel retail space.
01:02:46
Jez
Because I know Dave was up in Sydney just pushing that aspect of it.
01:02:46
Fiona
Bye.
01:02:50
David Debattista
they're sort of, they're sort of two very different channels for us. Like, long before Fiona and I worked for Hellia's, you know, along with that mindset when they were first building about wanting to create enough liquid to sell to the world, that sort of ran hand in hand with their business mindset of approaching that international market a fair while ago.
01:03:11
David Debattista
So, you know, back in the early sort of 2010s period, um up to I think around 2012, 2013, I think, Fee, was when everything sort of fired off with La Maison de Whiskey over in France.
01:03:22
Jez
yeah
01:03:22
Fiona
Yep.
01:03:23
David Debattista
And that, market wanted something from Tasmania. And at the time, the only distillery that could facilitate that was Hellier's Road because of that mindset of building enough for the world going big on that initial setup.
01:03:39
David Debattista
So that partnership with La Maison really catapulted the Hellier's brand into the European sphere. And that really is what sort of carried that brand into markets that even to this day,
01:03:53
David Debattista
We learn about, you know, some random dude in a bar in the Netherlands tags in Hellia's Road because he's having one at the bar. And we're like, what bar is this? Where the hell is this?
01:04:01
Jez
know it
01:04:02
David Debattista
The hell's going on?
01:04:03
Fiona
um
01:04:03
David Debattista
You know, and you you follow the...
01:04:03
Jez
We dragged a bottle back there, yeah.
01:04:03
Fiona
Someone was drinking it in Ireland recently too, someone in a bar in Ireland drinking it.
01:04:06
David Debattista
Yeah.
01:04:09
Fiona
um Actually, I think it was my plumber.
01:04:10
David Debattista
Yeah, like...
01:04:12
Fiona
He's Irish.
01:04:13
David Debattista
ah
01:04:14
Fiona
But, yeah, so, but, you know, there's no denying that in the last couple of years we've had some, you know, worldwide economic challenges.
01:04:14
Jez
i love it.
01:04:15
David Debattista
But all...
01:04:23
Fiona
So ah I think...
01:04:25
David Debattista
Hmm. Hmm.
01:04:26
Fiona
You know, we we have done significant export orders through Maison in the last couple of years, um but it's a challenge. You know, you've got to get out there and and put in the groundwork.
01:04:38
Fiona
So ah last year I was fortunate not enough myself and my boss, Derek, we were lucky enough to actually go over to Paris and Warsaw and have stand and attend Whiskey Live, Paris and Warsaw to just try and strengthen those brands, i was sorry, i strengthen those relationships with La Maison de Whiskey and um get some boots on the ground over there to do some groundwork to expand that.
01:04:54
Jez
It's exciting.
01:05:07
Fiona
export opportunity internally to market.
01:05:07
David Debattista
You were pouring over there, Fiona, that the 21-year-old collection foundations bottling that we did for La Maison de Whisky as well, which is another example of just like what we did for Rare Hair.
01:05:19
David Debattista
You know, their markets are demanding liquid with age. And like Fiona says, we have those casks with age, and that's why we can satiate that demand. We can bring them that liquid that the world wants.
01:05:32
David Debattista
And we are all for.
01:05:33
Fiona
yeah
01:05:34
David Debattista
In Australia, you can get great whiskeys that don't have any age, but on the world sphere right now, people still want age.
01:05:37
Fiona
sorry.
01:05:41
David Debattista
You know, it's what they take as comfort. It's what they take as knowing. And the fact that we can supply that does give us that edge that we're quite lucky have at our disposal.
01:05:49
Jez
Yeah. Are you seeing that translate to the Australian punters or are they still like...
01:05:55
David Debattista
No, that's a ah slowly but surely... educational piece. That's why we partner with Whiskey Live on the show circuit and we do um yeah exhibit those older whiskies at those shows to really educate
01:06:09
Fiona
Thank you.
Promoting Older Australian Whiskey Domestically
01:06:09
David Debattista
people.
01:06:10
David Debattista
yeah That's my job. I do every every whiskey show that we go around in. And you know to our CEO Derek's assistance, pour out those old whiskies. We want people to know that those whiskies are there and that we do them and that they are great. Like our 21-year-old Peter Karsel,
01:06:26
David Debattista
ah twenty one year old peter carson this year won best whiskey in Australia at the World Whiskey Awards. You know, and that is an old whiskey that's fantastic and sensational um and is available.
01:06:38
David Debattista
People can buy. You know, it's a product that's there to market.
01:06:40
Fiona
Thank you.
01:06:42
David Debattista
And it's not a fluke. It's the fourth time in the last seven years Hellier's Road has won best whiskey at the World Whiskey Awards. So for Australia.
01:06:48
Jez
It's very interesting fluke.
01:06:51
David Debattista
So, you know, we're we're we're pretty lucky that we have those liquids there and I mean, heck, today we launched our 22-year-old single-cast release. We were just chatting with the marketing manager just before we did this, and she's like, yeah, the guys are receiving orders. We're processing them up. There is a demand there for those.
01:07:09
David Debattista
So we're lucky and we're building the brand and we're building the awareness that that is there for people to drink and enjoy.
01:07:13
Fiona
Thank you.
01:07:16
David Debattista
So, yeah, older liquid is starting to get good traction locally as well as internationally for us now.
01:07:22
Jez
but Whilst we're tracking on older liquid, I might crack this gorgeous looking 21, which is incredible that it's 21 years fully matured in a bourbon barrel.
01:07:36
Jez
Like, incredible. um What...
01:07:40
David Debattista
I'm not sure which one they put in for you, to be honest. does it Can you read the little cask number or anything at the bottom?
01:07:46
Jez
I got the cast number here. It's going to be 22... that 83.01? Yeah, eyes aren't... Oh, stop it. point zero one
01:07:53
Fiona
Oh, yeah.
01:07:54
David Debattista
Yep, yeah, cask 2283.
01:07:55
Fiona
Yeah.
01:07:57
David Debattista
Very good. ah Fiona will be able to tell you the nerdy stuff about that one.
01:07:58
Jez
yeah my eyes aren
01:08:01
Jez
ah stop it
01:08:06
Fiona
So just a bit about the um ah nomenclature of our um cast numbers, I suppose. So when you've got the 2283, so that's filled in 2002,
01:08:17
Jez
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
01:08:18
Fiona
on the 283rd day of the year, so we use a Julian date system, and it was the first cask that was filled that day, and we probably would have filled, you know, 14 or 15 from that run.
01:08:30
Fiona
um And X-Jack Daniels casks, so most of the casks in in our older stock are X-Jacks. ah There's a few wild turkeys and ah other bits and bobs in there, but by and large they're X-Jack Daniels.
01:08:46
Fiona
um Now that particular...
01:08:47
Jez
Is that purely just supply basis or like whatever the...
01:08:50
Fiona
Yeah, I think so. i think I think the whoever the cast broker was that they were dealing with at that time, I think it was, yeah, yeah.
01:08:58
Jez
time, yeah.
01:09:01
Jez
22... Oh, 21 years ago. Like entirely different world.
01:09:03
Fiona
That's it. Yeah, 100%. Yeah. It's all like faxes and no such thing.
01:09:08
David Debattista
but
01:09:10
Jez
Yeah, that's... Faxes. We're talking telegrams 22 years ago, 21 years ago.
01:09:13
Fiona
Yeah. don't know.
01:09:14
Jez
It's mental.
01:09:15
Fiona
Yeah. Crazy. Yeah.
01:09:16
Jez
mentor
01:09:17
Fiona
Yeah.
01:09:18
David Debattista
I think for a bourbon fan like yourself, it's um it's great to get one that's been aged for its full life in a jack cask for you.
01:09:25
Jez
Oh yeah, it's like just up there is my entire Jack selection.
01:09:30
Fiona
Oh, nice.
01:09:31
Jez
It's um... Yeah, big Jack fan, so it's going to be exciting to look into this.
01:09:37
Fiona
So you you'll get, you know, all those lovely honeyed notes um from the the bourbon cast.
01:09:42
Jez
Hmm.
01:09:43
Fiona
But also and for me, that that note of Leatherwood honey is one of the quintessential Hellier's Road tasting notes for our extra-matured whiskeys.
01:09:56
Fiona
i don't know if you picked it up in, or maybe not in Voyager. So we get um that beautiful, sometimes it's meadow honey, sometimes it leans towards more the the leatherwood, but it's definitely that always got that honey note.
01:10:12
Fiona
One of the ones I just did, that's exactly what was about to say.
01:10:13
Jez
It's like Honey Nut Cheerios.
01:10:16
David Debattista
you
01:10:16
Fiona
So one of the tasty notes I just did for Tasman cast too was, oh, my God, this tastes like, oh, smells like honey nut, um you know, the crunch, that sugary-ass cereal that you had when you were, like, 10 years old.
01:10:28
Jez
Yep. Yep. That could just be my glass like carrying multiple whiskeys. I tried to rinse it as best I could.
01:10:35
Fiona
Yeah. Oh, it's definitely a thing, though.
01:10:36
Jez
But yeah, it's like honey nut Cheerios on there.
01:10:39
Fiona
um And I love that tasting note.
01:10:40
Jez
Yeah.
01:10:42
Fiona
But also, um you know, there's carcinobons that get a really uber tropical note as well, so peaches, nectarines, a whole lot of stone fruit, melons, and, um you know, a really –
01:10:53
Jez
Like stone fruit, yeah.
01:10:56
Fiona
A common tasting note in those older casts is grilled pineapple, random, like, you know, caramelised grilled pineapple.
01:11:02
Jez
I get that. yeah. yeah
01:11:04
David Debattista
That 16-year-old we did had that for days. That was just all pineapple, yellow fruits for days, the 16-year single cast.
01:11:09
Fiona
Yeah.
01:11:11
David Debattista
That was incredible.
01:11:12
Fiona
Oh, nice.
01:11:13
Jez
Have you guys nailed what is causing that tasting note? Is it like purely just a cask or the location in the warehouse or?
01:11:20
Fiona
ah So it's definitely, look, as I said, though those...
01:11:23
David Debattista
you.
01:11:26
Fiona
casts that I talked about earlier that sat side by side, one of them was super stone fruits and peachy and cray-cray on the tropical and the other one didn't have any of it.
01:11:36
Jez
Yeah.
01:11:37
Fiona
So what do you say? Like I think it has to be, um you know, all those reactions between our spirit which has, you know, all those –
01:11:42
Jez
Purely cask.
01:11:49
Fiona
amazing array of chemicals and compounds in there with that particular cask. So the extractives, again, all those chemicals, that's exactly what it is. and And then they decide to react one way or another over that period of time, which, you know, the reactions form and they can break apart.
01:12:07
Fiona
Again, those compounds can disassociate and come apart. um So maturation science is a whole, whole another thing. And it's so, so interesting. um yeah no it it's not It's not human and bacteria and like gross stuff.
01:12:18
David Debattista
ah
01:12:18
Jez
not bioscience. That's...
01:12:27
Jez
<unk>s ah ah It's definitely bacteria, it's just a different kind.
01:12:28
Fiona
but Yeah, you know, it's very different.
01:12:33
Jez
Whiskey fungus, it's fine.
01:12:34
Fiona
for cool ah Bordonia, absolutely.
01:12:38
Jez
Mmm.
01:12:39
David Debattista
I think that maturation piece that you're talking about, Fee, is ah something that will definitely come to the fore in Australian whiskey. soon as distilleries start to get to the point where they start to regularly start to have to look at things like secondary cask use.
01:12:55
Fiona
Yeah.
01:12:55
David Debattista
um You know, we were speaking about this a little while ago, Fiona and I just put together a whiskey for our business partner, the Tasman, a beautiful hotel down in Hobart.
01:13:02
Jez
Beautiful.
01:13:04
David Debattista
And the whiskey that Fiona picked for their second release, so um it's a second filled bourbon barrel.
01:13:11
Jez
beautiful
01:13:12
David Debattista
Yeah. And for Australia, everyone's like, first fill Fortified wine, flavor, flavor, flavor, so much so you can't even chase the whiskey. You know, this whiskey that Fiona chose defied all expectations.
01:13:21
Fiona
yeah
01:13:26
David Debattista
You we put down cask samples to these people of pork casks, sherry casks, you exotic wine casks.
01:13:26
Fiona
Okay.
01:13:33
David Debattista
And then in the middle, we had this second filled bourbon cask. it was almost like it was making up the numbers to fill in that, that you know, the the tasting panel. And then tasting it with their wine and chef team,
01:13:45
David Debattista
They all love the nuance and subtlety and softness of the second fill bourbon barrel. And Fiona was like, perfect. That's fantastic. That's what I want because we've got that new make showing through, but it's showing how beautiful the cask was.
01:13:54
Fiona
ah
01:13:59
David Debattista
It's bringing in a beautiful flavor. And it's almost like the term second fill is a dirty word when it shouldn't be. It should be all about how well is this this liquid put together that it's a second fill showing all these things.
01:14:06
Fiona
Yeah. No, shouldn't say, yeah.
01:14:12
David Debattista
like This is literally it right here.
Role and Influence of Cask Types
01:14:16
David Debattista
Yeah, I know I've got it here.
01:14:16
Jez
It's so light, like for, cause people get really concerned.
01:14:18
David Debattista
Exactly.
01:14:21
Jez
They start looking at whiskey and they're like, all right, well, it's got an age statement on it. And then they're like, well, it's a bourbon cast, but it's second fill.
01:14:24
David Debattista
if
01:14:27
Jez
You get all the color from your like new chart, American oak. So the fact that you're rolling through like first, second fill it's yeah.
01:14:35
David Debattista
Yeah. And look, this is age for 10 years, you know, and this, this liquid is, is beautiful in an old fashioned.
01:14:37
Jez
Yeah.
01:14:39
Fiona
It's
01:14:43
David Debattista
it's It's lovely. It's nuanced. It's fantastic.
01:14:45
Fiona
it's so delicate, that particular cask. um I really rate that cask. It's, yeah, super delicate and floral.
01:14:53
David Debattista
So, you know, and we can only hope that as, you know, whiskeys are coming along and distilleries are getting older and they're starting to think, well, doesn't have to be a first fill cask every time.
01:15:06
David Debattista
doesn't have to be a richly fortified cask every time. Let's get a bit of dynamicness. And I mean, 90 something percent of all the barrels in the Hellia's warehouse, correct me if I'm wrong, they've built off bourbon casks.
01:15:19
Fiona
Yeah. Yep. yeah
01:15:21
David Debattista
Yeah, that's, that's,
01:15:21
Jez
Is that purely based on supply or is that just like palette defined?
01:15:26
Fiona
Definitely supply thing. um Obviously the price point of a bourbon is a lot lower than ah a fancy cask from Europe. um We did get, you know, a couple of containers of uber fancy stuff from out of Europe last year with all sorts of different wonderful varieties in there.
01:15:47
Fiona
ah But, yeah, the bread and butter has to be that bourbon cask. Because it's got the right profile for us.
01:15:53
David Debattista
Mm-hmm.
01:15:55
Fiona
Like it works with our spirit really well. um As I said, like those uber aged ones, they're just so gorgeous. ah you You wouldn't want to put them in anything else. Like they just work so well.
01:16:08
Fiona
um So, yeah, we're very happy with using primarily the bourbon cask to make up that, you know, that vast proportion. And then when they're ready and they've got that lovely vanillins and delicate profile, then we can transfer them into a finishing cask or, you know, ah secondary maturation in a different cask. Why not?
01:16:31
Fiona
um Because we're going to sit on it for at least 10 years. yeah. so Yeah, it's cool to be able to play, but, it you know, give it that first few years in a bourbon cask and see where we go from there.
01:16:46
Jez
That's amazing. All right. I might...
01:16:49
David Debattista
How was that 21 for you? What did you think?
01:16:51
Jez
That 21, do you know what? I want to say like purely subjective subjectively, I think the 20 took it for me.
01:17:02
Fiona
The Voyager, yeah.
01:17:02
David Debattista
Hmm.
01:17:04
Jez
The Voyager. I'm like, once again, it's like that sweetness playing off the back of that.
01:17:05
Fiona
yeah
01:17:10
Jez
But I guess the...
Complexity of Single vs. Multiple Cask Whiskeys
01:17:12
Jez
I'd say the structure of that French oak... I had that right. Yeah. French oak.
01:17:17
Fiona
yeah
01:17:17
Jez
Um, and then just additional sweetness compared to like, once again, that maltiness coming off the back of the, X jack task. And then, uh,
01:17:32
Jez
I'm trying to work out how to accurately describe this.
01:17:34
David Debattista
and I can almost see your bourbon cask palette note coming through now.
01:17:37
Jez
Yeah. Yeah. Um,
01:17:42
Jez
I'd say it's like for your 21, it was more one dimensional as opposed to like introducing different cast types. And there's like multiple layers of things going on.
01:17:50
David Debattista
and
01:17:52
Jez
And then you sit there and that whiskey takes you on a journey as opposed to sitting there and it's like single cask for 21 years. And it's like, that's the experience as opposed to a journey, which is like a whole nother layer, if that makes sense.
01:18:08
Fiona
Yeah.
01:18:08
Jez
And once again, it's like different whiskeys for different moments in time.
01:18:12
Fiona
Absolutely. Yeah.
01:18:13
Jez
So it's like, yes, enjoyable experience, but it's like great whiskey. It's like that bourbon cast is just escalating, but it's like, I like, for me, it's more structure.
01:18:28
Fiona
Yeah.
01:18:28
David Debattista
ah It really shows that even though there's only one year difference between those two whiskeys, one's a finished cask, one's a single cask, the flavors are
01:18:29
Fiona
yeah
01:18:32
Jez
was worlds apart.
01:18:37
David Debattista
completely different directions. It's it's a world apart, 100%. hundred percent
01:18:40
Fiona
me
01:18:40
Jez
Which will be interesting to dive into this ah seven year really quickly. And then I got to let you guys go because I've taken up enough of your time tonight.
01:18:52
Jez
know you guys have families in that to get back to.
01:18:52
David Debattista
Well, yeah, please um please crack this, Peter, because this this is Fiona's invention.
01:18:57
Jez
yeah
01:19:01
David Debattista
This is.
01:19:01
Jez
Oh my God. i So I'm probably the worst person to try Peter whiskey, but I'm all about it. Let's go.
01:19:07
David Debattista
Well, that's what exactly this product is made for.
01:19:10
Jez
Okay, I got you.
01:19:10
David Debattista
yeah um i mean, Hellia's have had, and Fiona will be able to give you all the tech details, but a long history of making peated whiskey.
History and Design of Peated Whiskeys
01:19:19
Jez
Hmm.
01:19:19
David Debattista
You know, they've been getting their peat from Scotland for over 20 years. Yeah, the peated malt, sorry, for over 20 years.
01:19:25
Fiona
21 years now.
01:19:25
Jez
Hmm.
01:19:27
David Debattista
There's a long history of doing that. um
01:19:30
Fiona
So our pedicast
01:19:30
David Debattista
And part of it is to do with the volume, I would say, yeah?
01:19:33
Fiona
ah ah of mould.
01:19:37
David Debattista
Yeah, the amount of malt that we use, that peated malt, is in excess of anything anyone could ever supply in Australia. so That's why we go to Scotland.
01:19:44
Fiona
um I mean, we've just secured 27 ton of peated malt for this year's peated campaign, so it's super exciting.
01:19:49
Jez
oh
01:19:52
Fiona
I love the peated run is my favourite time.
01:19:53
Jez
That's...
01:19:54
David Debattista
thank Thank God.
01:19:57
Jez
um' I'm glad you're able to secure that much, but I don't know why people want it.
01:19:57
Fiona
Favourite time in the district.
01:20:02
Jez
I... ah
01:20:05
Fiona
Oh, no.
01:20:06
Jez
Why do you want to try to do it? i'm not I'm not sold on the dream, let me tell you.
01:20:10
Fiona
Okay.
01:20:10
David Debattista
Well, I think that's, you're the perfect test case.
01:20:10
Jez
I am...
01:20:11
Fiona
It's like, look,
01:20:13
David Debattista
You're the perfect test case for this product.
01:20:13
Fiona
Yeah, I mean, peat is like, it's like oysters.
01:20:16
Jez
I'm not the perfect test case.
01:20:19
Fiona
It's like olives. It's like things like anchovies.
01:20:20
Jez
Yeah. Yeah.
01:20:22
Fiona
They're the the challenging foods that you you get introduced to.
01:20:25
Jez
It's all the things my girlfriend loves.
01:20:27
Fiona
Yeah, you get introduced to them growing up and you're like, oh, my God, I love these. And then you end up going, oh, I'll try another olive.
01:20:31
Jez
Why?
01:20:35
Fiona
And I remember this journey as a kid with olives. And, you know, before you know it, you're madly
Gateway Peat: An Introduction
01:20:41
Fiona
in love with them. So we've coined this pated whiskey Gateway Pete.
01:20:47
Fiona
It's like the pot of whiskeys.
01:20:47
Jez
Okay.
01:20:49
Fiona
So be careful what might happen.
01:20:52
Jez
It sounds like a fun uncle at a birthday party.
01:20:55
Fiona
That's it.
01:20:55
Jez
Gateway Pete.
01:20:56
Fiona
Gateway Pete.
01:20:56
Jez
Okay, I'm all about it.
01:20:57
Fiona
yeah
01:20:58
Jez
I'm all about it. 46.2% as well.
01:20:59
Fiona
Yeah, so it's... Yep.
01:21:02
Jez
sorry
01:21:02
David Debattista
Mm-hmm.
01:21:03
Fiona
Yeah, so it's – oh, sorry.
01:21:03
Jez
non-flockcking action
01:21:07
Fiona
Yeah, matured in ex-bourbon cask. these ones will be Heaven Hill. um And it's beautiful, soft, classic bourbon cask profile ah with those lovely vanillons and sweetness, and it's really mellow. Yeah.
01:21:22
Fiona
And just that layering of a gentle peat smoke. It's not a big lager or an octamo or anything crazy. As I said, it's it's designed um to introduce people to peat whiskey, whereas they might have experienced it in a very, very different way through yeah, whiskeys that aren't great, blended whiskeys and such.
01:21:45
Fiona
So this is, um in my mind, it's one of my favourite whiskeys in our core range and I always have a bottle in the house. Sadly I don't have with any with me right now.
01:21:57
Fiona
um
01:21:57
Jez
I am... Yeah, sorry, you've been sipping on water this entire time we've been drinking whiskey, so...
01:22:01
Fiona
That's okay. Yeah. lips All good. um So, yeah, I...
01:22:06
David Debattista
i I do this a lot at whiskey shows, and I tell people this is two-stager. Fruity nose, peaty palate.
01:22:14
Jez
Yeah, I was going to say it's taken a...
01:22:14
David Debattista
You don't have to be afraid to smell it.
01:22:19
Jez
It's taken a second for that smoke to kind of kick in there because I was nosing it.
01:22:22
Fiona
Yeah.
01:22:23
Jez
I'm like, no, all I'm getting is sweet Heaven Hill cask. I'm like, there's nothing smoky about it.
01:22:26
Fiona
Yeah.
01:22:26
David Debattista
Yep.
01:22:28
Jez
And you just kept talking. And I'm like, no, no smoke, no smoke. And then it just like popped. And I'm like, oh, okay.
01:22:35
Fiona
Yeah, you just got to give it a little bit of time and in the glass.
01:22:38
Jez
And it's definitely opened up. Yeah.
01:22:42
Jez
and But it's like subtle. It's not in your face.
01:22:45
Fiona
Yeah, it's not in your face.
01:22:45
Jez
It's not. Blow out power.
Versatility in Peated Whiskey
01:22:47
Jez
Okay. so like Sneaky Pete might be coming around on me.
01:22:49
Fiona
Yes.
01:22:52
Jez
So, fun Uncle Pete.
01:22:53
David Debattista
and And this is this is by design too.
01:22:54
Jez
all Alright.
01:22:57
David Debattista
Like we have other peated whiskies in our portfolio that we sell that are big, that are bold, that are over the top.
01:23:03
Jez
Yeah.
01:23:04
David Debattista
We did a richly peated 15-year-old release it was that was like licking an ashtray. That was big, bold, and over the top, like a peat, like Lagavulin style peat.
01:23:12
Jez
Ugh.
01:23:14
David Debattista
But Fiona exercised really great restraint putting this together, creating that perfect balance between that fruity nose and peaty palate where we can literally be at a whiskey show and say to people like, oh, you don't like peat?
01:23:27
David Debattista
Well, let me just give you a tiny and test. Don't worry. I won't hurt you. Just give it a little tire and they'll try it. they'll be you know what? I don't mind that. And that for us is a win because that was so adverse that they didn't even want to try.
01:23:37
Fiona
Yeah.
01:23:40
David Debattista
Yeah. And now they're open to it. They're open to the category again.
01:23:45
Jez
There it is. Okay.
01:23:48
Jez
Once again, as you said, two-parter?
01:23:48
David Debattista
So, no, great approach up.
01:23:51
Jez
Yeah, it's it's definitely like, it's soft, it's sweat on the pallet, but then it's just like this coating of smoke. And it's not like blow your head off, it's just like a coating, like a wouldn't say a forest fire, but it's like a smouldering campfire that's just been extinguished and it's like
01:23:57
Fiona
yeah
01:23:58
David Debattista
It
01:24:10
Jez
Layer.
01:24:11
Fiona
Yeah.
01:24:13
Fiona
And?
01:24:13
Jez
Makes me ill describing that.
01:24:15
Jez
That's not how I describe things, but I'm like, tastes like dandelions is like the exact same scale I'd use.
01:24:19
David Debattista
makes a ah
01:24:24
David Debattista
it makes a bangin s smokeky whiskeky sour
Pairing Whiskey with Oysters
01:24:27
Jez
Okay.
01:24:27
David Debattista
because the smoke's not overwhelming. It's an element there, but still the classic of a whiskey sour is there. But this is this underlier of smoke.
01:24:33
Jez
but Yeah. Okay.
01:24:34
David Debattista
It's really good.
01:24:35
Jez
can
01:24:35
Fiona
o
01:24:36
Jez
This is one I'd use for a whiskey sour, actually, because once again, it's just that lemon. So you get that lemon tartness come through and then like that smoke could cut it right in half.
01:24:47
Fiona
Okay.
01:24:47
Jez
Okay. All right. I found a home for it.
01:24:52
Jez
Oh, amazing.
01:24:53
David Debattista
And we'll um what I'm going to do is, too, I'm going to send you ah sample because we didn't put it in this pack but I'm going send you a sample of my personal favourite Hell Ears which we don't really talk about too much because it's not done a lot but it's our 12 year old American oak which is you when we do sort of like a batch of it when Fiona vats together her best 12 year old American oaks I call it summertime whiskey it's light it's floral it's bright it's sunny it's beautiful it's a fantastic whiskey and
01:25:07
Jez
Hmm.
01:25:09
Jez
Okay.
01:25:24
Jez
Yeah, beautiful.
01:25:27
David Debattista
We don't talk about a lot because we don't have a lot of it. So we pretty much only really sell it into bars. People that want this this good 12 year old American oak.
01:25:34
Jez
It's mental you say that though, because like you have essentially shit loads of 20 year old.
01:25:35
David Debattista
But we
01:25:41
Jez
You're like, yeah, we've got 20 year old for days, but 12 year old, like, nah, we're fresh out. Got none.
01:25:45
David Debattista
but it's it's that that section in the middle yeah that Fiona was talking about where we had we load it low runs in that time.
01:25:45
Jez
No 12 year old, but 20. Yeah. Yeah, that's right.
01:25:49
Fiona
Yeah, yeah.
01:25:49
Jez
Yeah.
01:25:53
David Debattista
You know, we have to covet these little you know, 12 to 15 year old cast more than we do a 20 year old cast because we don't have as many.
01:25:57
Fiona
Pockets. Yeah.
01:26:01
Fiona
They're basically banned from us using that that that age through that, you know, period of time. Like, no, you're not allowed to touch those.
01:26:09
Jez
Yeah.
01:26:11
Fiona
They are blacklisted, as our boss says. Yeah.
01:26:15
Jez
It's crazy.
01:26:16
David Debattista
Unless you're a really, really good customer, unless you're someone that we need something for, like the Tasman or or maybe Heinemann.
01:26:16
Jez
Like, yeah, okay.
01:26:19
Fiona
But it has them.
01:26:22
Fiona
Yep.
01:26:22
Jez
I got you.
01:26:25
David Debattista
Yeah, someone along those lines.
01:26:25
Jez
Yeah, I got you.
01:26:25
Fiona
Yep.
01:26:26
Jez
I got you. Okay.
01:26:27
David Debattista
yeah
01:26:28
Jez
might It sounds like there might be a cast coming to Heinemann then.
01:26:32
David Debattista
You may be very correct.
01:26:33
Jez
little single barrel pick.
01:26:34
David Debattista
Yes, yes.
01:26:35
Jez
Yeah, I got you.
01:26:35
Fiona
Yep.
01:26:36
Jez
I got you. I'm picking up what you're putting down. I love it.
01:26:38
David Debattista
But no, I love that you love the the American oak cask part because I'm a bourbon cask fan.
01:26:39
Jez
up
01:26:44
David Debattista
That's what tell everyone at the distillery. That's where I live and what I love in my cask flavours. So people that love bourbons, as I obviously do as well, um and then, yeah, bourbon cask whiskeys is my jam.
01:26:53
Jez
No,
01:26:57
Fiona
I'm so curious. How are you going with that, Pete? How are you going with that?
01:26:57
Jez
and I can appreciate that
01:27:01
Jez
As I said, like it's just on the nose, it's like so sweet and it's that that classic honey note that you're getting and then it's like slowly evolved to this like a light smoke and it's like it's not aggressive, it's not... and My only problem with Pete is it's not something you go like a second glass for.
01:27:23
Fiona
No, absolutely. and
01:27:24
Jez
so I'm like, you'd finish a night on it?
01:27:24
David Debattista
A
01:27:25
Fiona
But this, yeah, this whiskey, though, I think is one. And that's what i sort of describe to people. Like sometimes you have a big peat of whiskey. You can only ever have one, maybe two.
01:27:36
Fiona
But this one, you know, you could give this, ah you know, a bit of a a session.
01:27:37
Jez
Yeah.
01:27:40
David Debattista
ah good notch.
01:27:41
Fiona
It's a sessionable peat whiskey if you did want to go that way.
01:27:44
Jez
i I'd probably start my night with this in the whiskey sour cocktail, which is like an interesting way to kind of start it and it'll catch people off guard if you were going to serve it and you're like, all right, well, let's start with something fun, start with something wild and they'll expect x but you're like, no, we're going to go throw you in the peat and they're like, huh?
01:27:51
Fiona
Beauty. Awesome.
01:28:05
Fiona
yeah
01:28:05
Jez
And like, oh, okay, I see what you were doing here. And then they're like, actually, it's in enjoyable.
01:28:10
Fiona
Or do what we do and put it over some oysters and have the it sort of as an oyster shooter with the pated whiskey.
01:28:17
Jez
Yeah, i'm to I might have to do it for the missus because, ah yeah, theres you're not selling me on oysters. I can't do it. I don't want to swallow it. She's like, no, you just swallow it I'm like, I don't want to do it. I don't want to chew it. i don't It's like swallowing snot.
01:28:29
Jez
I'm like, I do that on my own time.
01:28:30
Fiona
yeah
01:28:31
Jez
I don't want to do it with oysters. mean,
01:28:33
Fiona
ah
01:28:35
David Debattista
Well, we are very biased down here when we were launching this whiskey even.
01:28:38
Jez
Amazing.
01:28:39
David Debattista
We launched it my father-in-law as an oyster farmer. So we were literally out on his oyster boats at dawn, you know, at harvest time, pulling in thousands of baskets worth of oysters, just cracking the oysters out, pitted whiskey over the top, shooting it with the boys, standing in waiters in the water in the middle of the bay at dawn, on pounding oysters and whiskey, and there is nothing better, nothing better.
01:28:48
Jez
amazing
01:29:02
Fiona
but Yeah, that is so
01:29:03
Jez
That is mental. Not only am I not good at fishing or catching oysters at that rate, but here, Peter Whiskey, I'm like, I'll just stand on the shore and cheer you on or something.
01:29:14
Jez
That is, and like, get it, girl.
01:29:14
Fiona
cool. but
01:29:17
Jez
That is not my life. But I'm all about it.
01:29:20
David Debattista
It's pretty bloody special. Once you've had an oyster from the water it's grown in, you'll never have an oyster from a supermarket again.
01:29:26
Jez
Yeah.
01:29:28
Fiona
Yeah, right.
01:29:29
Jez
Okay. Okay. Yeah, they they talk about these Sydney Rock oysters and I'm like, it is...
01:29:34
David Debattista
Yeah, they're ah they're rubbish.
01:29:35
Jez
Yeah, I'm not...
01:29:36
David Debattista
Rubbish, Sydney Rock. man Tasmanian, that's where it is.
01:29:38
Jez
I'm not a fan. That's like $40 a...
01:29:40
David Debattista
north Northwest Tasmanian oysters, that's what you want.
01:29:43
Jez
Yeah, okay, okay. All right, if I make way down to Tasmania, then I've got to have one then. It's like, it sounds like it's tradition.
01:29:49
David Debattista
You make your way down to Tasmania, you come down, we'll literally take you to the distillery and then we'll take you out on the oyster boats.
01:29:56
Fiona
Thank you.
01:29:57
Jez
All right, we're going to have a bit of whiskey with it then too.
01:29:57
David Debattista
I literally did that.
01:29:58
Fiona
ah
01:29:59
David Debattista
ah I did it. I did it a couple of months ago with Ross from Belveni.
01:30:01
Jez
I
01:30:03
David Debattista
He wanted to do it.
01:30:04
Jez
and
01:30:04
David Debattista
We came down, toured the distillery out on the boats, oysters straight out of the water. It was great. We're chasing the gummy sharks around in the ankle deep water.
01:30:13
Jez
ah love it. I love it. ah Guys, I will begin to
Hellier's Road Cream Liqueur Journey
01:30:18
Jez
let you go. i've got a couple of quickfire questions for you, though, before I wrap up. I know you guys have left me with the...
01:30:22
Fiona
Sure. Yep.
01:30:23
David Debattista
Do it.
01:30:25
Jez
ah This whiskey cream, um which is absolutely incredible, by the way. Your Hellier's Road Cream Liqueur. It is when I was working the whiskey show last year, that was the standout of the show.
01:30:38
Jez
Every time you guys were there, it was flying off the shelves. I remember unpacking cases of it and we were shipping it around Australia because it was like in demand.
01:30:45
Fiona
yeah
01:30:48
Jez
i remember unloading more cases than what I was putting back on the the truck for the next show. So you guys killed it.
01:30:56
Fiona
but
01:30:56
Jez
i If I can recommend someone buy something, I'm like, it is that. Absolutely. um Do you have a quick second to talk about it and how that concept came about?
01:31:03
David Debattista
that That stuff flies out.
01:31:07
Fiona
and Well, I was actually really surprised to see how long we've been making it. So I think they've been making it since like 2006. Crazy.
01:31:18
Fiona
I didn't realise that Helios had been making it.
01:31:20
Jez
Aging in milk fats.
01:31:20
David Debattista
Mm.
01:31:22
Fiona
Sorry? Sorry?
01:31:23
Jez
Aging it in milk fats or...
01:31:25
Fiona
No, like just,
01:31:26
David Debattista
Thank you.
01:31:27
Fiona
ah
01:31:29
Jez
It's a gag.
01:31:29
Fiona
so, yeah sorry.
01:31:30
Jez
It's fine. you Like, really?
01:31:32
Fiona
We do, no, I'm like, what?
01:31:33
Jez
Yeah,
01:31:36
Fiona
Because my vatting tanks, like my whiskey vatting tanks are old milk vats. So, you know, we do, we have some repurposed stuff hanging around.
01:31:40
Jez
no, it's a...
01:31:44
Fiona
um Yeah, so made with fresh cream. Obviously we had that longstanding relationship with better milk next door. So the boys had, pop across with their trolley and pick up the fresh cream and toddle back across and ah make this ah beautiful cream liqueur.
01:31:58
Fiona
So the the secret really is that it does have that fresh Tasmanian cream and our single malt whiskey in it and it is luscious.
01:32:05
David Debattista
Okay.
01:32:08
Fiona
um If you've ever had you know, that very, very popular brand of cream liqueur that I probably shouldn't say the name of and have it side by side with our whiskey cream, you will never go back to Bailey's ever.
01:32:22
Fiona
um So we did win the world's best cream liqueur last year in 2024 World Drinks Awards.
01:32:23
Jez
Yep, absolutely.
01:32:30
Fiona
ah So that was a huge sort of get for our distillery and and um what a credit to the you know, whoever developed that recipe way back in the day, we haven't really touched it too much because it's just so
Demand and Supply Challenges for Cream Liqueur
01:32:44
Fiona
good.
01:32:45
Fiona
um Yeah, i do recommend.
01:32:47
Jez
Should you? It's banging.
01:32:48
Fiona
Yeah, exactly. So we've got um our what we call our original flavor, which is kind chocolatey and delicious ah coffee and a new addition, relatively new addition, which is the salted caramel, ah which is insanely indulgent, but um equally, yeah, equally good.
01:33:08
Fiona
um So, yeah.
01:33:08
Jez
I have both of them in my fridge and they go perfect in my morning coffee. If I want booze it up, just like throw 30 mils in like iced coffee and it is the best way to start the morning.
01:33:16
Fiona
good
01:33:17
David Debattista
yeah
01:33:21
Fiona
Awesome.
01:33:23
Fiona
Yeah, amazing.
01:33:24
David Debattista
it's ah It's a it's a beast unto itself. Now, like it sells itself you to the point where sometimes Fiona can't even get the cream.
01:33:26
Jez
Yeah.
01:33:32
David Debattista
That's how much in demand it gets.
01:33:33
Fiona
So, yeah. but That is literally literally my life at the moment is trying to source cream because it's, you know, the cows don't, you know, want to make cream or make lots of milk all the time.
01:33:35
David Debattista
So, yeah, we we go through that battle.
01:33:35
Jez
Knock it on the door.
01:33:39
Jez
oh
01:33:45
Fiona
So at the moment I'm struggling to get cream supply because, ah yeah, the demand is ever-increasing for our cream liqueur, which is a fantastic problem to have.
01:33:46
Jez
No.
01:33:56
Jez
yeah say You need more cows. That's...
01:33:58
Fiona
Yeah. Yeah.
01:33:59
Jez
Yeah, that's...
01:34:00
David Debattista
That's a problem. We don't own the cows.
01:34:01
Fiona
that's it
01:34:03
David Debattista
That's the problem.
01:34:03
Fiona
but
01:34:04
Jez
They need more cows. Okay.
01:34:06
David Debattista
yeah
01:34:06
Fiona
Yeah.
01:34:07
David Debattista
But no, it's a beast unto itself and literally like pretty much sold in every Dan Murphy's across Australia, all good bottle shops, and we sometimes, yeah, we fight to keep up with it.
01:34:18
Jez
Yeah, especially your staff, just taking some home as well, ah like, you know, be mixing it up.
01:34:19
David Debattista
yeah It's crazy.
01:34:26
Jez
I'm all about it.
01:34:26
David Debattista
Christmas gifts every year.
01:34:27
Jez
Yeah.
01:34:28
David Debattista
Cases are bought by each staff member as gifts.
01:34:29
Fiona
Oh, 100%. It's the best if thing thing ever.
01:34:30
David Debattista
Yeah.
01:34:32
Jez
Yeah, I can imagine.
01:34:32
Fiona
Yeah.
01:34:32
David Debattista
Yeah.
01:34:33
Jez
I'm going add it to my Christmas list this year and just start sending it out because, as I said, like, I have two bottles in my fridge at the moment and i just, it's so damn good. You guys are killing it.
01:34:44
Jez
Yeah.
01:34:44
Fiona
Awesome. That's great to hear.
01:34:47
Jez
But I'll run through these quickfire questions. um I'll start off with you, Dave.
Personal Whiskey Preferences and Hypotheticals
01:34:53
Jez
In a whiskey apocalypse, all the bottles are gone except one. What bottle is it?
01:35:00
David Debattista
um I'd be contractually obliged to say it's a Hellier's Road. i' Better to be the 12-year-old American oak, of course. That is my favourite, as I've touched on before.
01:35:07
Jez
Okay. Okay.
01:35:09
David Debattista
I drink that all day, every day.
01:35:11
Jez
But if you weren't contractually obliged in this perfect world?
01:35:15
David Debattista
um oh I have lots of whiskeys, as you can see.
01:35:21
Jez
ah Yeah. We play by day, not by...
01:35:22
David Debattista
Probably my favourite smasher is probably just Belvedi 12-year. Beautiful whisky.
01:35:29
Jez
Hell yeah. I love it. And what about you, Fiona?
01:35:36
Jez
If you weren't contractually obliged say 22 course.
01:35:38
Fiona
Oh, yeah. um That's a really tricky one because my experience is not the same as Dave's.
01:35:49
Fiona
I haven't had the exposure to the, you know, amazing array of brands and experiences that he has, um sadly.
01:35:50
Jez
course
01:36:01
Fiona
I'm getting there, but it's a slow journey, as I'm sure you can appreciate. You can only taste so much whiskey. ah In northwest Tasmania particularly, like we don't have a lot of access down here.
01:36:08
Jez
Oh, absolutely.
01:36:12
Fiona
um
01:36:12
Jez
No, no.
01:36:14
Fiona
So i don't know I feel like it would have to be petered. um And I do like the – is it bad say the Ligvillen 16?
01:36:27
Fiona
I don't mind that as ah as a petered drop.
01:36:28
Jez
No.
01:36:29
David Debattista
It's a base.
01:36:30
Fiona
Yeah.
01:36:30
David Debattista
It's base.
01:36:31
Fiona
Yeah. And if I was talking about our whiskeys, it has to be our yet unreleased, but it is in bottle and sneaking its way around to various tastings and things.
01:36:42
Jez
ah Okay.
01:36:45
Fiona
It's the whiskey that we've ah nicknamed the Peaches Cask. It's um a single cask from 2004, and it's an absolute banger, and it's full of that stone fruit character, um peaches and nectarines.
01:36:58
David Debattista
Or two, five, three.
01:36:59
Fiona
That's the one. She is an absolute cracker.
01:37:00
Jez
or
01:37:02
David Debattista
Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
01:37:02
Fiona
yeah but Yeah, so exactly.
01:37:03
Jez
Oh, look at him go.
01:37:03
David Debattista
Yeah.
01:37:04
Jez
Here's what I prepared earlier.
01:37:07
David Debattista
It's coming up with me to Sydney.
01:37:07
Fiona
So for Hellies, that's the one.
01:37:09
Fiona
um And, yeah, that's the – yeah, absolutely.
01:37:09
Jez
Oh, okay.
01:37:10
Jez
Let me know when you're in town.
01:37:12
David Debattista
Will do. Friday.
01:37:15
Fiona
Done deal. Yeah.
01:37:16
Jez
I love it. I'm trying to work out what I'm doing on Friday.
01:37:19
Fiona
Awesome. Awesome.
01:37:20
Jez
All right.
01:37:21
David Debattista
it's great day.
01:37:21
Jez
So, okay.
01:37:22
David Debattista
The peaches cast.
01:37:24
Jez
Okay. I'm, I'm hyped. I'm, I'm all about it.
01:37:27
Fiona
ah so
01:37:28
Jez
Uh, so Fiona, what is your most highly rated undervalued whiskey on the market now? Uh, I'd say for hell years road, actually.
01:37:38
Fiona
i hi What was it? Highest rated undervalued.
01:37:42
Jez
Highest rated underrate. Uh, what is it? Highest rated undervalued whiskey.
01:37:44
Fiona
What?
01:37:47
Fiona
Oh, my God.
01:37:49
Jez
within the Helly is Road portfolio.
01:37:55
Fiona
Undervalued. up Look, the Pated 7 is just, a you know, i think that's one that's, yeah, I don't know.
01:37:57
Jez
doesn't have to be.
01:38:00
Jez
Okay.
01:38:06
Fiona
I don't know. That's a hard question to answer. All
01:38:10
Jez
I ruined my game. That's, uh,
01:38:13
Fiona
right. Here, Dave.
01:38:16
Fiona
My main battery is about to die, by the way.
01:38:16
Jez
yeah.
01:38:16
Jez
What about you, Dave?
01:38:16
David Debattista
Uh, to me, my answer to everything is the 12 year American oak. That's my answer to everything.
01:38:21
Fiona
Hi, yeah.
01:38:22
Jez
Amazing. Amazing.
01:38:23
David Debattista
No one knows it exists because we don't do a lot of it and it's a fucking banger.
01:38:27
Jez
Yeah, you've got less than half a bottle there, so it's going to be a sad day when that's gone and you have to flog another one from the distillery.
01:38:32
Fiona
Hi.
01:38:34
Jez
Tough gig.
01:38:34
David Debattista
It's amazing.
01:38:35
Fiona
ah okay
01:38:35
David Debattista
It's amazing. The day that that batch runs out and we don't have a new batch lined up is when I'll cry. Hmm.
01:38:40
Jez
Yes, there's going to be tears that day.
Sharing Whiskey with Historical Figures
01:38:43
Jez
ah And my final question to round out the night is, if you could share a dram with any historical figure, who would it be and why? Kick it off, Dave.
01:38:54
David Debattista
Oh, Jesus.
01:38:57
Jez
Anyone in any period of time?
01:38:57
David Debattista
Um, I would probably,
01:39:00
Fiona
Historical figure. Oh my god.
01:39:02
Jez
Yeah.
01:39:02
David Debattista
Enjoy a good rum cask finished with whiskey with Fidel Castro with a very, very good Cuban cigar.
01:39:10
Jez
a
01:39:13
Fiona
Wow.
01:39:14
Jez
That is...
01:39:14
Fiona
that's
01:39:16
Jez
i like how we had that like loaded and ready to go.
01:39:20
Fiona
Yeah.
01:39:20
David Debattista
Just came to me. Just came to me.
01:39:21
Jez
okay.
01:39:22
David Debattista
No, it didn't.
01:39:23
Fiona
its
01:39:23
Jez
Why?
01:39:23
David Debattista
No, it didn't.
01:39:24
Jez
Why Fidel Castro?
01:39:25
David Debattista
I've always i've always wanted to to go to Cuba, and I haven't been able to get to Cuba. I love rum cask finished whiskeys. um And I used to deal a lot with cigars when I worked at the casino and loved the story and the history and everything that went around with it and all the the stories about that Cuban history.
01:39:46
David Debattista
I'd love just everything about that. And I think that environment would create everything I need in
01:39:52
Jez
Amazing. I love it. I, Fiona looks stressed. I'm sorry. look like you don't have an answer yeah because I just dropped it on you.
01:39:57
Fiona
Bye.
01:40:02
Fiona
Well, it's an interesting question and I'm the opposite of anyone who has any interest in history.
01:40:05
Jez
Yeah.
01:40:10
Fiona
i That is just not me. I'm into bugs and things.
01:40:13
Jez
I am
01:40:15
Fiona
So I think it would have to be someone like Mara Kiri or, yeah, oh yeah maybe, um David Attenborough, for example.
01:40:18
Jez
like Charles Darwin.
01:40:23
Fiona
That would be an amazing day, wouldn't it?
01:40:25
Jez
Yeah. I'd just listen to him.
01:40:26
Fiona
So listen to the dulcet tones of David Attenborough.
01:40:27
Jez
i Yeah.
01:40:30
Fiona
But sharing a jam.
01:40:30
Jez
Like, stop at it.
01:40:31
Fiona
I think that's it.
01:40:31
Jez
that's
01:40:31
Fiona
Yeah. yeah
01:40:32
Jez
Yeah.
01:40:32
Fiona
i that it Yeah, while he's still alive, that'd be super cool.
01:40:33
David Debattista
While he's still alive, too.
01:40:34
Jez
Yeah.
01:40:35
David Debattista
Yeah.
01:40:37
Jez
Well, don't think he'd say much when he's dead, so that's, ah guess, it's Wicked at Bernie's style if you're going to team up and have a dream with him, but um yeah, I can like just sit there, picture it and just listen to him talk about bugs.
01:40:39
Fiona
Yeah.
01:40:43
David Debattista
but
01:40:48
Fiona
Yeah.
01:40:53
Jez
We're sitting in like this rainforest and you're like, this is tranquility.
01:40:53
Fiona
yeah
01:40:59
Jez
Well, thank you guys for jumping
Upcoming Whiskey Events and Releases
01:41:00
Jez
on. i am sorry. We've gone like double over the amount of time I thought we're going to go for, but um it's been an incredible hang.
01:41:03
David Debattista
Pleasure. No,
01:41:09
Jez
Hopefully you guys have enjoyed listening to this podcast, but ah David, Fiona, anything you want to plug before we get you guys out of here? Any questions?
01:41:17
David Debattista
now just enjoy some some good Australian whiskey, everyone.
01:41:19
Fiona
22 year old baby yeah and now our fresh drop the 22 year old American oak cask yeah um single cask and we're so proud to launch that um was it yesterday today today yeah amazing yeah
01:41:26
Jez
22 year.
01:41:35
Jez
Yeah. Yes.
01:41:35
David Debattista
Today, technically, yeah.
01:41:36
Jez
Last night was the media tasting for it.
01:41:37
Fiona
yeah
01:41:39
Jez
I believe I saw on socials.
01:41:39
Fiona
yeah Yes.
01:41:41
David Debattista
Yeah, we've done a few of them.
01:41:41
Jez
Ooh.
01:41:41
Fiona
yeah
01:41:42
David Debattista
There's one right now in Melbourne in Casa Divinos. There was one last night in Sydney.
01:41:47
Jez
Yep.
01:41:47
David Debattista
um And then, yeah, there's a few cheeky tastings. And then for Tasmania, it's Taz Whiskey Week. But in Taz Whiskey Week, people come to the big showcase in our big stand.
01:41:53
Jez
Amazing.
01:41:57
David Debattista
We'll be having it there on Taste for People.
01:42:00
Jez
I love it. um Any events coming up for you guys in any states other than Whiskey Week?
01:42:08
David Debattista
Apart from, well, I mean, we do, we're we're on the Whiskey Live circuit as well, where we offer the masterclass circuit so people can come in and try our 21-year-old Peter, the one best in Australia this year.
01:42:20
David Debattista
and We're doing all those. We're obviously at Whiskey Abbey, of course, which is a great whiskey show. ah Whiskey Whiskey up in Brisbane. um And then we also do, yeah, select product launches as things come to market that we always try to spread the love. And we've got a few more people coming on board with the team soon.
01:42:38
Jez
It's exciting.
01:42:38
David Debattista
including a permanent edition up in um the Brisbane market as well, where everything seems to be happening right now.
01:42:42
Jez
ah I love it. All right. Well, yeah, I'll add all those links down in the show notes anyway. But, yeah, thank you guys for jumping on. And thank you both, Dave and Fiona, for taking the time out of your night because I killed an hour and 42 minutes of your time.
01:42:59
David Debattista
Pleasure.
01:43:00
Jez
So, all
01:43:00
Fiona
That's no problem at all.
01:43:00
David Debattista
No worries. Anytime.
01:43:01
Fiona
Thanks so much.
01:43:02
David Debattista
Thank you, buddy. See you.
01:43:03
Jez
right. Thanks, guys, for listening.
01:43:03
Fiona
Thank you.
01:43:04
Jez
Stay thirsty.
01:43:05
Fiona
See ya. Bye.
01:43:06
David Debattista
Bye.