Transcript
Speaker: We have layer upon layer. it's It's not just federal, it's not just tax, it's local tax, it's state tax, it's federal tax, it's federal licensing, it's state licensing, it's local licensing. And so while we have these sexy infographics, you've seen them all that says, you know, Norway pays this much tax and the UK pays this much tax. If you added up the percentage of of COGS, of your cost of goods, of what ends up in your gin and tonic, 70% of it's tax.
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Speaker: Welcome to the Full Measure podcast. Fantastic to have you with us. We are coming to you today from Grainstock and we're incredibly lucky to be joined by Kylie Lethbridge, the well outgoing CEO of the Australian Distributes Association. Thank you so much for coming with us.
Speaker: Thank you for having me. It's obviously, there's a lot going on. Woo, Grainstock. I know, Grainstock is... We're here we again. We are exhausted, we're excited, we you know we've had some drinks, we've had some bread, we've done so much here. yeah We've already had um incredible chats and just come out of listening to yours and Sabrina's amazing chat to industry. um A lot was you know said and divulged, some of which we'll get into, but maybe we could start with a bit of an update on the last month and if you could yeah give us and then obviously listeners a bit of ah an understanding of what's progressed.
Speaker: What's happening with the ADA? um There's, you know, we, for listeners who, ah you know, don't understand grain stock, you know, this is something that's in its second year and so both Sabrina, the CEO of the IBA and I, are super passionate about in its inception. So really, really happy to be here and can't speak highly enough of, the effort that Stu puts into bringing industry together. you know, it's part and parcel with what what we've been talking about as well is the change in industry events and the nature of we've just had come off our national conference. And, you know, when I was at the IBA, yeah I did BrewCon. And so what it looks like now is these really grassrootsy, you know, gorgeous, um, out in the field and and ah the regional tours that we did ahead of our conference as well were the most well attended because people just want to get out there. And and so it's been really interesting to be able to support this event. But um so what we just talked about, what what the Independent Brewers Association and just talked about was was this period of change, this cultural shift that we're going through.
Speaker: as it relates to government um and our regulatory and taxation framework, but the opportunity that it presents us right now in the next six months and then in the next 18 months that we've never seen before in the world of beer and spirits. I'm not going to talk about wine because they enjoy their own little framework that we envy. um and And so ah it's really been trying to work super hard to maximise you know what we need to do to take advantage of this shift in in what punters are thinking and consumers are calling their government to account and where politicians are going with without things like alcohol tax reform. And so we talked a lot about that today and um and the opportunity for us to, you know, our presentation was this is the time for us to swing big and that although spirits and beer might have not not agree on everything,
Speaker: the fundamentals we do agree on, the consumer change you know the consumer shift is is is applicable to both of us. And so as two member-only funded organisations that have been doing things on Smell of an Olly Rag for a really long time, we felt it was an opportunity to get up and and try and get some energy into this conversation about this big swing. How do we all get behind each other and the two industry associations now more than ever to um maximise this possible change in the thing that we all think is holding us back. yeah So the voyages the world have have, you know, there's more health of the supply chain that the full measures and the crafty pints are able to, you know, evolve and and innovate and do the things that you want to do. So it was it was very much about that. And I think i think the chat was good. We asked for, we called for, what are we missing? yeah What are the ideas? Where's the think tank? And and hopefully that conversation will continue. It's interesting you mentioned grassroots as well. It's a phrase I've used a couple of times about the the first beer champion awards that were on the other night. yeah it felt like that was, i mean, it was their first awards. They're going to start smaller, but it did feel like it had that more grassroots experience. going back to what the feeling was the early years of the the craft beer boom, I'm sure it would have been the same in yeah in craft distilling as well. And I think, yeah that was like say with Grainstock last year, it felt ah you know the the beginning of something. you know yeah Yes, both industries are kind of more developed now, but maybe capturing what that was, in that energy you talk about as well, you know getting what was there at the beginning and trying to rebuild that again, maybe get fresh impetus. And we, you know, one of the things, because the yeah IBA and the ADA have been having a chat for some time about what what we can do together because we're resource challenged. And, and the you know, the concept, because grain stock worked really well, you add bread in the mix and, you know. um And so we've been talking about that and and scoping some ideas for for some time.
Speaker: um and and i think what we have talked about what we absolutely agreed on is maybe our industries you know if you look at the last brewcon you look at the ada conference maybe our industries don't need the convention centers the big massive solar solace i hope they're not listening you know with the the the the expensive gorgeous black frames around that maybe we go back to the card table with a copy you know with it not so much you know i'm being facetious but um more a meaningful engagement rather than spending all the money on the big things that actually don't matter. yeah Well I guess but people want the contact, they want the networking, they want the experience. you know That was what Pete from Drip Rock we were took talking to for a separate show earlier, was talking about, yeah that was what what he loved coming here last year was meeting people for the first time, realizing how open everyone was. It didn't matter, I mean, obviously this is different, it's beautiful out here, and you know, in the in farming country, but that's what he took away from it was was the conversations, the networking, the people and the lessons. It didn't matter where it was. Yes, and the ability to taste things that you are passionate about 24-7. And so if we don't provide these experiences and if we don't, in my view, support the grassroots or the or the industry or trade-led
Speaker: events where they're sticking their neck out. i said this about the Bintani Trade Day for years. We have to support them because they're they're putting, they're spending the money and they're putting their neck out and and we should support that kind of effort.
Speaker: yeah And so in terms of, I guess, where the ADA is placed at the moment and where you see spirits currently, um a lot of change coming. What's the thing I guess you want to communicate both to distillers, i mean consumers who might be interested out there, some of them, like this is this is high level stuff for some of them that might not be of you know necessarily to their interests. But um yeah, what do you see playing out over the next little bit because there is a push coming and and I think it's going to be quite significant. Yeah, so the ADA is doing a lot of work. This is, again, for for consumers that are listening, is the Australian Distillers Association member. you know We represent all the Australian manufacturers. We've got 460-ish members at it at the minute. And we represent... you know
Speaker: 50% of the sector that provides 100,000 jobs across the country and 15 billion annually in economic benefit. And um we also have one of the the third highest tax framework in the world. So we're not incentivised to succeed here. Or to grow. And I think the message at the minute, which we we're calling on today to answer your question, Luke, is we're watching those that are paying attention to this or care, we're watching... government to be held to account more about how things are being spent, deals being done behind closed doors. Our punters are are more aware.
Speaker: call you know We're doing it tough. Cost of living is tough. So we're like, well, where's the money going? Why am I doing it so tough? And we're spending 21 million on summits in Fiji or whatever that looks like. i think people like David Pocock has helped enormously in in um in just making government real to people in how things work. He's personalised some issues and and and captured them in a way that yeah that' totally yeah made made it so clear to people. And made things understandable. Same with, it you know again, whether you believe it whether you enjoy it or not, Hunter's politics and the and and that guy you know explaining things. And so um these politicians, what we talked about this morning was ah politicians across the board, One Nation, are calling it out, again, regardless of your personal beliefs. um
Speaker: it It's been called out, well, hang on, why are we taxing our own people so much and not some of these? and And so it's, is it gambling that we should be taxing more? Is it gas? Is it AI data centres that should be, is it foreign-owned multinationals that should be paying the same amount of tax? So we're trying to take advantage of that, Luke, in in having government listen to us. We've got you know a series of challenges as it relates to one of the oldest taxation or regulatory frameworks in the world, and it's not really fit for the modern-day industry. It means that having a drink in the local is unaffordable. It means that shouting, you know, ah A gin or a beer or whiskey for your mates, people can't afford to do it anymore. We've got social isolation on top of that. People are not coming out to a pub. They're gaming or they're communicating in online methods. you know people
Speaker: There's research that I read the other day, which is people can't look you in the eye anymore because that's not a thing. Right. People are not having conversations because it's all being done, you know? And so we've got this layer upon layer of issues that we think, you know, small craft producers, hospitality venues are the solution for. And so People socializing and just actually- totally and our members are delivering on that you know we're providing those hospitality venues those tap rooms those places you can bring the kids because they've got have invested in a playground over there so and your dog and and and so we where our job is really to make it easier for those people to do business we um we get involved in a complicated scenario of what's going on with illegal alcohol which i'm sure you know we might talk a bit more about but um
Speaker: You know, it's it's a lot about how we're talking to to government and politicians at the minute as to what change is needed in the sector. Yeah. And on that, that's the illicit alcohol issue is something we will cover at full measure. It's something we've been in talks about covering for a long time. We're trying to do it do it justice and do it the right way. Yeah, it's not easy. I'm sure we don't get firebombed in the process. um But, yeah, maybe if you could give people an understanding of what that issue is and maybe what the ADA and how... Australian distilers are sort of tackling it at the moment. It's complicated, yeah. And and and the de even to define it, um you know, and when we talk about, when industry talks about illegal or illicit alcohol, we're referring to, the you know, no regulation whatsoever, no federal licence, no state licence, no control over what's going into that product and and likening it to tobacco, effectively. And and I've sat around the table,
Speaker: um with the ATO stakeholder, alcohol stakeholder group for many, many years listening to, you know, watching it and talking about, you know other ways in which We're either stopping it at the border or the ingredients being stopped at the border. or And so what's triggered looking at it ah in a little bit more detail from the government's perspective and industry's perspective is the public fire bombings and the public ah media, the media talking about it.
Speaker: It's died down a little bit because... um the In Victoria in particular, the VicPol have dedicated resources and a task force to it. And and federally, Border Force are looking, doing more enforcement. The ATO is doing a crackdown, auditing a lot of businesses just to make sure that the bona fides are doing the right thing as well. So there is definitely a turn ah a turn on ah looking at it and making sure that it doesn't get to where tobacco is. But we know in this country that it's challenging to make and to control what is worldwide networks of of criminal activity. It's a big...
Speaker: Big problem. And especially when it's also hard to make quality spirits available at an affordable price, you know, and getting harder and harder over time as well, you know, when when people's pockets are pinched, you know.
Speaker: Absolutely. Absolutely. and And the sad, you know, the scary or sad component is, you know, the potential harm yeah that happens from you know what we've seen in in Laos and and other areas is that you know that's potentially an outcome. yeah So we want to make sure that industry's involved. Again, and much of what we do at at at the Australian Distillers Association is to try and work with government to have a seat at the table, the industry voice of ah across the board. yeah So where we have you know the... the
Speaker: Research came out about you know contaminated alcohol from National Alcohol and Drug foundation Research Centre. It said that there was a roundtable that had been held with health departments and government and taxation office. Not one industry body there. yeah So we came out and said, how can you solve this problem without working with the with the bona fide producers who are doing the right thing? How can you get advice as to how this works without working with industry? So thankfully, we now have a voice at that table. And what would you most like to see on that front? you know if if you have your wave your magic wand and go, this this is what needs to happen happen from an ADA or you know industry perspective? Make it easier for the bona fide producers to make a living yeah and then illegal alcohol doesn't pop up. yeah Definitely. yeah we've got you know We have layer upon layer. It's it's not just federal. but It's not just tax. It's local tax. It's state tax. It's federal tax. It's federal licensing. It's state licensing. It's local licensing. And so while we have these sexy infographics, you've seen them all that says you know Norway pays this much tax and the UK pays this much tax. If you added up the percentage of of COGS, of your cost of goods, of what ends up in your gin and tonic,
Speaker: 70% of it's tax yeah in some way, shape and form. So it makes it very, very difficult um to to, again, aid small businesses to to succeed. And I think that that's something that has been looked at now anyway, is what is this government and what is this country doing to and for small business? Not just craft distillers, small business in general.
Speaker: And you have been a massive advocate, support for small business across the Berean and now distilling sector for a very long time. You've done an incredible job. Last week, we obviously published a story on your resignation. Do you want to talk us through this last few weeks and how that's all played was going to say, it's the weekly news show and you're kind of like the biggest news of the week. so Oh, it was hard. And do you know what? It's... um you know Life sometimes is serendipitous, or it might not be the word, but this time last year at Grainstock, i was still it was my last day at the Independent Brewers Association, and I announced that I was coming to the ADA. and so its It's a neat way of doing it, I suppose. you know Yeah, I think so. um so yeah, i'm I'm finishing up at the Australian Distillers on the ah ah the Association on the 30th of October. Mm-hmm. having a wee break and then ah taking on a role as the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Organic Recycling Association. So working in a circular economy role, something that takes my personal passions, not that Spirits and Beard didn't, obviously, that's very evident, I think, but... um
Speaker: ah something that I think is you know absolutely needed in terms of what's happening with our food waste and um and and bio, you know food security, all the things that we even talked about this morning in some of those presentations about what's not happening in this country and what we might need to be able to continue to feed our people.
Speaker: um And so ah another national body. And although I will be sad Today you know will be hard, tomorrow will be hard. ah I'll be sad. it's It's a good time for me to move on from alcohol. yeah yeah And a lot of highlights over your tenure. Oh my God. Do you want to talk us through some of those amazing things that you've been involved with over the years?
Speaker: Yeah, James will attest to this. I feel like, you know, when you go through anything in COVID years, it feels like dog years. It's like 20 of them rather than three. And for listeners who don't know, first week you signed on as the CEO of the Independent Brewers Association was the week that the country went into lockdown. Is that right? My first day was the first day of lockdown in Victoria. So I didn't meet the team until June that year. So you went into the first day lockdown into a couple of years of COVID, coming out of COVID, the industry adjusting, then the cost of living crisis, inflation, interest rate hikes into the distilling industry, firebombing. So you've had a fairly colourful... It's been six years. And that battle, James, is...
Speaker: is the reason that I'm moving on. I'm a bit weary. Okay. and And that battle, you know, each and every day battling for the organisation's survival, but for your members. Yeah. When you care, when I care about 400 distillers, when I cared about, you know, when you care about the brewing industry, when you really care about something, you you throw your whole self in, you know, well, I do anyway. And so...
Speaker: when it's a constant battle each and every day, when you're fighting all of those layers of regulation. And so, you know, it's like whack-a-mole. So when I pop my head up, I'm fighting, pre I started fighting pregnancy labelling and then I started, then we had a win. So the highlight was like, woohoo, I've just got, you know, $350,000. Hey, we're still here here to annoy you. Totally. Yeah. And, you know, in a year and 18 months later, we got the excise rebate increase from $100,000 to $350,000. And was like he it like, wow, something good. We had, ah you know, we got a government grant to do the ah independent beer roadmap. We got, you know, a bunch of stuff. We delivered the ADA. we've We've got seats at the table with government across the board ah in parliament. um We've got a new agreement with Spirits Council Australia, who are the the international producers, and that relationship has changed in the last year. So it's been navigating that process and coming out, um which in any relationship is important to do, right? Coming out and saying, actually, we don't agree on everything, but let's let's work out what we do when we don't agree. So when...
Speaker: you know, we agree on this, we don't agree on that. It's not always holding hands and singing Kumbaya. And so that's been a ah process to navigate. The change in where the ada came from, what I inherited and where the Spirits Council were at as well. they had change in leadership, change in structure, change in humans. And so evolving where the ADA was, evolving our export program, getting winning the grant to the Accessing New Markets Fund, hopefully we'll receive notification as to whether or not we've got a top-up of that funding to help... ah ensure that there's a constant sustainable pipeline of of distillers exporting and greatest, largest mission to of Australian distillers ever to Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai earlier in the with 32 under one Australian banner. So, um you know, brand new website, new see it. Like we've done a huge amount in 12 months and delivered that beast of a national conference and trade show successfully. yeah
Speaker: no So, you know, it's it's a lot happening and i think there's there is only opportunity, as I said this morning, you know, I was working with ministeries on a funding submission that, you know, maybe the the ADA can get some long-term funding in lieu of not having Spirits Australia supported or created by government. So there's a lot in the pipeline, Luke, for somebody else, for the team, for the board to come in and run with. We've got Our taxation advisory panel on meeting three in terms of what they're recommending for what we want to say should be changed. And man, is that feisty, right? That is a feisty room to be in. But we have 12 minds around that table that are just...
Speaker: killing it in terms of coming up with, you know, well, where should we be? So that's a process that needs to play out. Our technical standards work has started. We're just about to come out with um with the first lot of standards on gin and vodka. We've done the easy ones first. I understand. Something we've been covering a fair bit in Full Measure here. Exactly. yeah Which I think i I then put it in my electronic mail to members to say, the Full Measure's just talked about technical standards. Yeah.
Speaker: Ours has come. So there's been a huge amount of work going behind the scenes. They're all drafted. um And we all know that that's been... that's That work started... The ADA started that work in 2022 and that that stalled. um And I know it was one of the first things that I was told is that's really important.
Speaker: And for a number of things, then government were like, well, we we would really like you to have some standards as well. So so we understand how important that is. um You know, the engagement and communication with members has upped. We have the barrel room briefing once a month and... And one of the greatest joys has been supporting this, so having the full measure in place. That fly is driving me insane. How is that not driving you? by Well, world we're out in farming There's going be flies. There's going to be flying around. Sorry to interrupt my train of thought. But you know seeing the full measure come to fruition, being able to support it, um it has been amazing. Thank you And it's wonderful.
Speaker: I love it. no Thanks so much. Well, it's a good time to take a break. Best of luck ah with the next adventure. Thank you, And enjoy your last couple of days at Grainstock here. We'll take a short break now, and then we'll come back with Luke and I'll have a chat about the weekly news. Yeah, sounds great. Congrats, mate. Thank you Thank you. Thanks, Carly. Good luck. Thank you. Cheers.
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Speaker: Welcome back. Great to hear from Kylie there, Luke. and And now time to have a bit of a chat about the week's news, I guess, and other stuff you've been writing about over the last few days as well. yeah um And kind of a really sort of, I guess, innovative, but also fun um update out of the Northern Beaches with the Hang 10 Distillery. So what what have they been up to? Yeah, so a fantastic distillery right at the forefront of sustainability in Australia. They produce a whole bunch of amazing spirits from leftover, basically surplus bread from bakeries, local bakeries to their community. i'mssuming And that's, they're making the wash from the leftover bread. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, you know, normally if you're making whiskey, you would obviously start with grain, they have taken a a really innovative, sustainable approach and they're working with these local bakeries to ensure that nothing is wasted from the the local city. So oftentimes, if the surplus bread, we're chucked out, they're making sure that doesn't happen. So the developer process for turning that bread into a wash that they then distill into a spirit, mature it into a whiskey. which is pretty cool. there's been some sort of cool stuff. You have local brewing co. in Melbourne, they they've made beers from surplus bread. They've also used like waste fruit that would bit otherwise be going to landfill as well. yeah yeah um And I think you know over the last, how many years have we been Crippity Park, we've loved telling you those stories of sustainability. it you know There's the stuff that,
Speaker: I guess people might understand more broadly, like you know so you know using solar, reusing wastewater. But I love these sort of fun ones that I think it's ah something that the punter and the consumer can kind of hang on to and go, oh, you've taken that thing that I normally just chucked to the burst or put in the green bin, yeah and you're making this product. And I think you know the first release they did won a silver medal at one of the major awards. This is the only the second release they've done. I love the name. of the calling the is it the Goofy? Goofy release. goofy release, yeah. And speaking to that, it's it's also great for getting people thinking about the origins of where whiskey comes from. still There's a lot of people out there that you know mightn't be necessarily aware that whiskey comes from grain. So to sort of you know emphasize that with leftover bread is fantastic. fantastic plastic And the fact that you know they're competing against traditionally made whiskeys and winning medals. And some people might go to hampering themselves by going, well, just use the best grain out there. And they're like,
Speaker: You know, we we can do, you know, I guess it shows you how much is down to the the rest of the process as well. You know, you can start with the best ingredients, but you can also start with something like this and and end up there. And for those that don't know, Hangten, we've got a listing for them in our distillery. um Young couple, Maureen and Dion, based on the Northern Beaches, they share their site with... Half Pace Brewing who picked up a trophy at the Avers this year for one of their fruit beers. Tiny little operation, beautiful looking um sort of cellar door tap room, which i haven't been to. Have you been up there? No, I'm keen to check it out. It looks beautiful. So yeah, just really cool. And I think, you know, if if you're a producer out there doing anything cool, innovative like that and in the world of sustainability, we'd love to hear from you. So shoot us an email. Either to cheers at thefullmeasure.com.au or straight to the editor, Luke at thefullmeasure.com.au because we we love those stories that are, I guess, both positive, um you know, doing something good. But they they yeah it's a way of sort of bringing new people in, I think, to the to the spirits world and going, oh, this is cool. Like there's these fun things happening. Definitely. And they've just released, the key reason for mentioning Hang Tan apart from their listing, if you want the full story, jump on, have a read. But they've just released their second Goofy Whiskey. So, you know, they describe it as ultra limited. These are very, very limited bottlings. This latest release matured in an American ex-Bourbon cask, which has also been seasoned with some maple syrup. yeah So it's Well, maple syrup and bread, they kind of go together pretty well. Exactly, right? Exactly. So, yeah, a really fun, interesting whiskey. I think, look, the base whiskey, the the core and the nuts of it are fantastic. And yeah now they're exploring different cask maturations. If you haven't tried it, get out there. It's a really fun, amazing project. And everyone should behind it, i reckon.
Speaker: I'm glad I held back from saying so was it a nut bread. And I guess guess talking about another, this is actually an imminent release, um switching from the northern beaches to the west coast. Whippersnapper, one of the, I guess, the real the real forefront of distilling in WA.
Speaker: um They also have this ah sort of vets program they run as well. One of the one of the team there um spent 18 years in the military, who handler.
Speaker: and they they've got a special release coming up ah um called, think called The pit the Pilgrim, yep um which is go be launching an event on October 30th, what's that, a couple of weeks away, more than 10 days away from when we'll be publishing this. um And it's a fundraiser for an organisation called Pillars of Pilgrims. it's ah ah association set up to support vets in WA by vets themselves. um Caught my eye when I saw this pop up, maybe in an email from Whippersnapper, because about a year or so ago, um Froth, which is a a brewery in WA, they've got venues in Exmouth, Bunbury, North Beach. They're hoping to get one open in Geraldton. I wrote them a lovely letter of support for for their application. They did something with Pillars of Pilgrims again. So their head brewer, um Marcus, he's his ex-Special Forces as well. And it's one of those things, you know, it's like, you know, how you might feel about, you know, war in the military, or what have you. You know, a lot of people who do serve come back, you know,
Speaker: changed in some way you know and some people really struggle you know the the suicide rates you know are so much higher than the rest of society a lot of people have mental health issues issues addiction that kind of stuff so all these organizations that are out there support and that's what pillars for pilgrims are for especially with focus on sort of filling gaps where they think there are gaps in other existing support but also with a bit of a focus on people who've been in the special forces So yeah, they've made this one-off whiskey for the team there. I believe it's single cast release. So that's out soon. And there's a launch event for their vets on October the 30th. And mean, you know Whippersnapper pretty well. I do, yeah. I was very lucky to be over there chatting to Jimmy when I was doing the Per Spirits judging earlier in the year. Looks like it's going great. I got to taste through the range again. I've done once or twice, I will admit. Happy to do it again. Happy to do it again. Always happy to drink Whippersnapper whiskey. And if you know, if you love bourbon style whiskey, you should be drinking Whippersnapper. It's absolutely fantastic. And yeah, great initiative. Yeah, for sure. And also Luke, before we headed to grain stock, you were presenting to the CIBD in Melbourne at Mountain Cultures Brewery in Richmond. That's right. what was going on there? I mean, obviously anyone who's interested distilling is going to want to hear from, you know, the master historian himself. Ah, get out. Shut up. So what was the occasion there? Yeah, so it was the AGM for the Chartered Institute of Brewers and Distillers, a fantastic organization. And they were very kind to invite me in basically talk about the history of Victorian spirits. And we had a great chat. Their members really encompass a broad spectrum across the industry. And so I was talking them through Well, some of the regulatory hurdles and the regulations that have been very longstanding in spirits, how they're affecting, you know, distilling practices today. And think, you know, the conversations that was able to have after to them, which are pertinent to industry and anyone who's, you know, in this space, certainly around regulations, absolutely around, you know, exercise problems. And, you know, we can hop on that obviously every week. What are they? I've never heard of that before. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So a lot of that stuff from an industry perspective, you know, they do a great job at um you know in education and doing all sorts of advocacy work and so it was fun to spend some time with them we're also going to be there covering their major conference uh next year yeah brisbane in march registrations are open there so we just like we're co-media partners for grain stock we're co-media partners for the cibd which we were before the full measure even existed so but now we actually exist hope hopefully people have now we're on a sign yeah yeah exactly now they're like yeah you can you're real you can do this And also, it's in the same week that the CIBD appointed Matt Anderson as their new CEO as well. I'm assuming Matt wasn't there to hear you talk this time around. He wasn't this time. But word is no doubt spreading through the networks and he'll be like, know, inviting you to speak all over the world, hopefully. Well, we'll see. We'll see.
Speaker: World travel, I'm not sure my partner would be keen on that at the moment, but um who knows? Fingers crossed. Send me an invite. And I guess another thing that we published from yourself this week sounds pretty interesting. So it tied into Queensland Rum Day. you want to tell me a little bit about this? The consortium bottling. Yes. You gave me little taste in the office the other day. was just sort of in sort of...
Speaker: It have been yesterday for all I remember. I'm like, oh, do I really want to have... And then you just i had a little sniff. I'm like, I have to have a taste of this thing. We smelt phenomenal and tasted fantastic. So tell me about it, yeah. Yeah, so I gave it a little shout-out, a very brief shout-out last week. But this week, well, by the time this airs, you'll hopefully will have all gone around Queensland Rump Day. If you live in the Sunshine State, you should have gone to to some of the events. But what you can do now is get a taste of the consortium bottling. So the the Rum Consortium Bottling 2026, this is the third it's the third iteration of these bottlings. It's very unique in the Australian spirits landscape where you have, you know, yeah know most Australian distilleries are owner operator. So to have,
Speaker: producers come together and marry up their spirits to create you know collaboration bottlings and blends is is not entirely common. We've seen Tasmanian Whiskey Week producers do it. um There's been other collaborative bottlings, some independent bottlers like Tasmanian independent bottlers and No Boundaries in Tassie. They've sort of married up different makes together to create some really exceptional whiskeys.
Speaker: What they've done here is they've brought together seven of the best Queensland rum distilleries. including, I'm probably going to forget one if I do. I apologize. We've got Burdekin, Bundaberg. We've got Beanley in there. Nildis Berrandum, Far North Queensland Rumco and Kalki Moon. Is that seven? That was six. That was six. So I'm missing one. I'm sorry. It'll come to me. Um,
Speaker: take Anyway, ill and it'll come, it'll come. well We can add it into the grain stock episode. It's gonna run about 10 days after this one. yes there's always there's always There's always time to rescue yourself there. Yes, yes, yes. Anyway, so look, the the whis the sorry the the rum itself is absolutely stunning. um And it's a masterclass in blending. I've tasted it a couple of times now. You go back to it, what he's managed to do really brilliantly is leave it Who oversaw the blending? So this is Adam, sorry, my apologies. Adam Chapman, master distiller at Nildes Berandum. He worked very, very hard to balance. and I guess that the key the fun thing about this is you get a trace of sort of different elements of the distillery. Did each distillery get to go we want to put this in? Or was it were there parameters going, we're aiming for this, give us something in this sphere? It's like, no, just give us...
Speaker: an expression of your rum and will make it work. Yeah, I think it was a bit to and fro. So, you know, Adam was working. Adam was basically just stocking up tons of everyone else's rum at home. And going through and sampling and trying to pick out um which bits of, this is why this why this is very unique, and even probably more unique than a lot of whiskey blends. You've got cane syrup rum in here, you've got cane juice rum in here and you've got molasses based rums in here. So to marry those together into a complete, you know, complex, but very together whole is a real achievement. and because it's not It's not like sort of you know two or three distillers getting together and going, oh, let's create a product from scratch. It's actually, let's create a product that is the... bike you know it's the it's the The amalgamation of yeah all of of all of our products. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, i just think it's a massive achievement. There are, in past in the past, these have sold out very, very quickly. so if you're keen on tasting what I think is just one of the best expressions of Queensland rum making, you're likely to come across...
Speaker: ah It's Queensland in a glass. Exactly. exactly Good price, exceptionally complex. um It rewards multiple tastes. If you want to chuck it in a cocktail, Jungle Bird would be the way for me, as I mentioned in the piece, or you know Dark and Stormy, or even just you know with Ginger Ale, it'd be fantastic. um So yeah, please check it out. It's exceptional.
Speaker: Great. there's Obviously a lot going on. I'm sure there'll be more more going on but by the time we sit down next week. We'll obviously be here at Grainstock the next couple of days. We've got a few more recordings lined up. So they'll be running over the next few weeks as well. um But yeah, thanks again to Kylie for joining us earlier on the show. Thanks, Thanks to Lallamond for sponsoring the the podcast studio here for the next couple of days at Voyager at Whitton Malthouse. And also to Voyager for putting on this amazing event. We haven't even started it yet, but we just know it's going to be fantastic. this The sense of excitement on on the bus on the way up is pretty cool. yeah yeah Thank you to everyone. It's ah a stunning time. And thanks to everyone who helped us out with those stories today. It's good fun. Cheers.
Speaker: All right. See you next time. The Full Measure podcast is produced and edited by Matt Hoffman. For all partnership inquiries, reach out to c Craig Williams, craig at thefullmeasure.com.au.
Speaker: To keep up to date with everything happening in Australian spirits, visit thefullmeasure.com.au and subscribe.
