Transcript
Speaker: What you'll notice is spliced into that increasing sort of age statement. We've also got other remarkable single casts that um we release that are not necessarily the next one in line, but something a bit younger. So we had the Peaches 20-year-old. Yes. Oh, I'm getting chills.
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Speaker: Welcome to the Full Measure podcast. Fantastic to have you with us again. We've got an amazing show for you today and I'm very, very lucky to be joined by the well one of the top dogs in Tassie, I would say. She's as good as it gets. Beth Bicknell from Hellier's Road, the marketing manager from Hellier's Road. Welcome. Thank you. great to be here. So wonderful to have you here. And I'll tell you what, we're going talking everything Helly is. We're going to be talking Tassie. Lots to cover. One of the oldest whiskeys ever released in Australia as well. That's right. Coming Gets to that too. but um Yeah, maybe a bit of an introduction as to who you are, what Helliers is for people out there who aren't familiar with Helliers. Give us the rundown. For sure. Well, first of all, I wouldn't say I'm a top dog in Tassie because I do live in Melbourne. But yeah, so I'm the marketing manager for Helliers Road Distillery, um but working remote out of Melbourne, which is, of course, one of, you know, most important markets to us.
Speaker: So Hellia's Road, we are one of the oldest distilleries and also one of the largest in Tasmania. We are not down the south. um We are up on the northwest coast in Burnie. So that is sort of the regional centre there. And we are in a suburb called Havenview, which looks over this beautiful pastoral land in the hinterland. It is an exceptionally pretty place um based, yeah, in a unique climate. I know everyone says that, but like it genuinely It genuinely is. That's So beautiful, gentle maritime climate. ah That's of course great for the whiskey, but broadly, but great for, we've got lots of sort of agriculture there that you've got onions, potatoes, a huge dairy industry. And of course, then cows, you've got ah the Greenhams group and Cape Grim beef and all of that in that Northwest side of Tasmania too. and Then that's how the Hellier story starts, yeah, with with a dairy cooperative, some some amazing people, obviously producers and the agricultural side to the Hellier story is is sort of front and center. um Yeah, for people who are unaware, maybe you can touch on that side of the Hellier story. For sure. So the distillery was set up in 1997 by a group um of dairy farmers who owned a company called Better Milk. They were doing very well in that dairy space and chose to diversify into whiskey. um
Speaker: I guess it's a liquid. Could it have been apple juice? Could it have been cider? You know, with that climate, it could have been cider. Very, very lucky that it was whiskey. And in 1997, nearly 30 years
Speaker: used a lot of that very like grassroots farming know-how that technical can do, I guess technical from the milk side, can do spirit from that sort of farming and being very isolated in the northwest side, took that, um I guess, that that sort of spirit, that philosophy and started the distillery in 1997. It was started in a very different way from a lot of our sort of, I guess, local The Southern Tassie producers. Southern Tassie, our constituents in Tasmania. um It was, um yeah, the distillery started on a very, very large scale. yeah I won't go into the technicals. You should get our head distiller Fiona Kutz on for that. Yes. um But yeah, you've got a very large scale milk factory next door, milk cream factory next to our facility, which was set up from the get-go to be very, very large, ah which I guess at the time was very strange. um There was some forethought there that,
Speaker: something great was going to come out of Tasmania and that we'd need to have a lot of barrels of old aging single malts to sell 30 years later. That's right. And so, i mean, God, fast forward to, you know, now um the industry has... developed along an incredible line where you have you know a combination of very small scale producers, yourselves, you know folks at Lark, the folks Saldans Cove are now looking to export. you know The ovaries are even down there. um We'll get to that a little bit later, but I was down there early in the week and hearing all the stories from... what people are thinking about Tasmanian whiskey now and how they're trying to push it forward and Helios is right at the forefront of that. You're one of the first Tasmanian whiskey producers to export as well. So, you know, you're now sort of leading that charge, which is fantastic. And I guess that speaks to this new partnership that you've got in terms of distribution with DMG, if you could maybe fill us in there.
Speaker: Yeah, I think like tying in that export um sort of story is very important there because we've been doing that really successfully with La Maison de Whisky since I think about 2013. This year, our team, David and Derek, went over to Whisky Live Paris and I was part of the whole sort of MPD process where we send off single cast, they choose the best and we make a custom label. Yeah.
Speaker: And, yeah that's been a very, very strong channel for us and they have secured some of the absolute best casks. So we've got a great reputation in Europe because of, I guess, their sort of um choosing skills. Yeah. um to Yeah.
Speaker: That wasn't a very technical way to say it because of their amazing palettes that they're, you know, cho choosing these single casks. Yeah. So looking at Australia, it has been a market that we have been steadily growing. yeahp There's some areas we've been doing very well. So for example, like duty-free activations, that's something that we've had a lot of success with. um And we've had some, ah I guess, reps working directly with us.
Speaker: Working with DMG is the next sort of step in that story, getting more feet, more sales reps on the ground um in on the mainland. yep We will be retaining Tasmania for ourselves. um So more feet on the ground equals more liquid on lips. So Sydney is a market that we have historically not had a lot of, um I guess, traction in, success with, i'm for lack of having um that person there. So we're really looking forward to seeing what they can do in Sydney. That's the DMG homeland. But of course, you know, four reps Sydney, four reps in Melbourne, um and then, you tentacles going all around the world.
Speaker: Yeah, beautiful. And look, those are the Maison du Whiskey cast that you mentioned. um I'm someone who has been very very lucky not a lot of people have in australia and you know you speak to guess some of the difficulties in terms of selling helia's road in australia um i've been very lucky to taste so many of those casts over the years absolutely exceptional liquid like this tropical fruit character this you know this oxidative maturation that just allows this spirit this unique helia spirit to really show itself um especially when it gets to releases like what we have in our glass here so you know Obviously, we need the smell-o-vision in front of you, but we're incredibly lucky to have... um This is, correct me if I'm wrong, this is the oldest Hellia's Road whiskey. Is that correct? That is correct, yes. So, this is our brand new. It's a 23-year-old single cask.
Speaker: Right. So we, um after the rebrand, many people would recognize us from our old sort of fortified style bottles. But after the rebrand a few years ago, um we really got serious about not just dabbling in the teens, but talking about whiskeys in their 20s. That started with a 21-year-old, very exciting. um Last year it was the 22-year-old and now we're up to 23. But what you'll notice is spliced into that increasing sort of age statement. We've also got other remarkable single casks that um we release that are not necessarily the next one in line but something a bit younger. So we had the Peaches, 20-year-olds. Yes.
Speaker: Oh, my god I'm getting chills. Which was just like, I guess the the point is you're going to see them keep getting older and older yeah but we've got really good stock of these aged single casks. So when something speaks to us and it is exceptional, it will also be released. So you'll see a lot of things in the 2021 season.
Speaker: And then of course, you know, we're moving towards, you know, another decade yeah at some stage, but let's stick to the whiskey on hand, the 23 year old. yeah Yeah. And I think as well, for people out there who aren't familiar with the Hellia's range, um the the core range is brilliant. it's It's very affordable. There's a lot of variety there. And, you know, we're looking at a lot of age statements as well, which is quite unique from ah from a Tasmanian perspective. There's and not a lot of celebrities that have that. And then you you step up to these incredible whiskeys like we have in our glass here and, know, I could literally wax lyrical about these whiskies for a very long time. We speak about, we're about to speak about um the third decade there. What what fascinates me about these whiskies, if you're a real geeky whiskey nerd, um apologies to anyone who out there who isn't, um they still have a lot of time to go. Like I've tasted so many of the 20-year-old plus Hellyer's Rhodes.
Speaker: And you can sense that they can go for longer as well. They're really going to mature out to 25 and 30 plus years, which sounds staggering to say. but um you know, the ABV of a lot of these whiskeys as well is right up there. It's not really losing a lot of ABV in cask over time. yeah So this one that we're, this is at 55% after 23 years. Yeah, it's just... And some of the other single casts that you've released as well are, you know, just holding at a beautiful stage and state at, you know, significant age. So, look, if you're if you're a fan of exceptional mature whiskey, then you need to check this stuff out. You do. I should do a little plug there. We've got um an event in Melbourne that is, oh what day? Maybe around the 11th. So it's the Wednesday before Whiskey Abbey. um And if you'd like to see a lineup of our American Oaks, got starting with New Make and then um going through a six to a 23-year-old American Oak, we do have an event on. You can just Google that. yeah um And we'll also be showing off these older releases at Whiskey Abbey. So I believe we've got a 22-year-old, a 20-year-old and 23-year-old. And it's an absolute luxury. But the thing I like as a marketer, because I want to like i want people to dip their toe yeah into the helliest road whiskey, but like actually drink it, not dip their toes. um is you've got like a $99, 700 mil bottle to start the journey or something like, I think double casks, it's the Tassie Pinot cask makes so much sense. um And it's so great that people can sort of start at an affordable level and then be in event like Whiskey Abbey yeah and try something that is like aged, it's exceptional. Are they in the market for a $1,450 bottle in an amazing bespoke Tassie timber case?
Speaker: Maybe not, but it's, you know, you still want to try it, right? Yeah, exactly, exactly. Yeah, and Whiskey Abbey is the best pleasure to that. I'm going to be presenting there, so a big shout out to the CASA team. I cannot wait for that very soon. um And obviously next year, very, very big year for Helios. Huge year. Tell us all about what 2027 means for Helios Road. So it is the big three zero. We will be celebrating 30 years as a business. um So we've got a couple of products in the works that are, I guess, designated anniversary releases that we will be be all the bells and whistles and making a big deal of those. But because we're such an established business with such extensive Bond stores, we will also have a whole slew of releases which will focus on the sort of more nerdy and right particular side of whiskey. We're still...
Speaker: I guess, looking at the broad range of what we could be contributing to the whiskey world for next year um and, you know, making sure that we're getting the right, you know, the exact right casks or the right collections and then able to support that, of course, with education, events, campaigns, that kind of thing. But um overall, it's the big three zero and you'll see a little tweak on our packaging. So shout out to Jen, our designer who did I love you, Jen, um who did the the best job, you know, in um collaboration with, of course, the sales team and CEO and everyone to, you know, get a beautiful um new look and feel to the packaging to celebrate the year and spread the word. yeah Fantastic. oh well I'm very excited for that. Looking forward to it. I reckon we're going to have possibly have Derek and maybe someone else from the Helliest team next year to go into that properly. We might have to do a podcast. We might, maybe. but On the coastline in Burnie, it's so windy. won't be able ah to hear the words. You'll just be able to hear the wind. It'll be great. Oh, the wind. i can feel the sort of the the salty sea air that just permeating the room. I mean, if paradise is cold and green, it's, you know. It's burning. It's burning. It's Northwest Tasmania. Yeah. Beautiful. All right. Well, fantastic. So exciting. um Thank you for taking us through that. Beth's going to hang around with us for our little news section coming up next and we might go to that now. Cheers. Great.
Speaker: And we're back here with another bar shout. This is where we celebrate some of the best bars in the country with the good support of our mates at Neil Desperandum, who are? Yeah, Neil Desperandum, producers of some fantastic rums based on the Sunshine Coast there. We're very lucky to be partnering with them to talk about some of the best bars in the country. And we want to give a shout out to Rude Boy in Hobart. It's a bar that I've been lucky to visit many times over the years. um So, you know, a big shout out to Rowan and Kayla Massey and Campbell Nickel. they're About to turn 10 years old. The bar has evolved um over the years, but today you go in, it just serves up some exceptional cocktails. Last time I was there, I was drinking some amazing daiquiris with some Queensland rums, actually. So, yeah, it's just it's such a beautiful spot. um If you're in Hobart, jump on to Roo Boy, have a look, check it out. It's a beautiful space. Elizabeth Street is an incredible part of Hobart and it takes a lot to stand out there as well. I reckon I've walked up and down that street more times than any other street outside of Melbourne and it's always one after visiting breweries that I pop into Rubley. Yeah, Yeah, shout out to them and go well.
Speaker: And like Luke, you can shout out your favourite bar if you'd like to. Just contact us, cheers at thefullmeasure.com.au and thank you to the team at Neil Desperandum. Check out what they have on offer. Their incredible range is head to neildesperandum.com.au.
Speaker: We're back here talking with Beth Bicknell from Hellia's Road. Fantastic to have you with us. And I was lucky to be in Tassie earlier in the week. It's always such a beautiful space to to visit. Obviously, just incredible food, incredible produce, incredible whiskey. And the reason I was down there was for the Tasmanian Whiskey and Spirits Association conference where I got to do a little bit of a chat. And, you know, I guess relevant to the Hellier story was the announcement that Derek, the CEO, Derek Charles, the CEO of Hellier's, is now the president of the TWSA, which is great. So congratulations us to him. Yeah, big congrats to um Derek. It's, yeah, it's really big news for the TWSA. um Derek is someone that's got, you know, so much enthusiat enthusiasm, passion for the industry. And I think um with, yeah, his leadership, I think they're going to be able to do some, you know, continue to do really great things. Yeah. And so more broadly, like there must be from from mine, there is a lot of positivity about Tasmanian whiskey moving forward. um Obviously, Heli is crucial to that story, but also hearing from other producers and tasting a range of, you know, jump on the jump on the website or jump on our socials and you see sort of of the whiskeys that I was able to explore and taste. It's a really fun, amazing progression of things down there. Is that sort of ah the vibe that you're getting too? Absolute vibe and it makes me think of um in Melbourne when you walk into a wine bar that's got an all Victorian wine list yeahp and you don't miss anything. You've got sparkles, you've got pinot, you've got everything you can imagine in the world of wine and it's beginning to be the same in Tasmania um across all different sort of styles. A lot of experimentation and of course like older age statements too. And yes, and and speaking of some of the amazing Tasmanian whiskeys that are coming out the moment, we've got a little story that we'll be posting on Lark's latest upcoming Christmas cast release. This is a ah series of whiskeys they've been putting out um annually now. are Beautiful stuff. Like there's some there's some Jew sort of flavoured casts that they've been able to insert into this single malt. And it just, you know, brings you to Christmas. it It gives you everything fun and lovely and festive about... Tasmanian whiskey. So jump on, have a look ah at that one when you get a chance. And is there some other sort of creamy things coming out of Helly as well? Absolutely. We've got, look, it's pretty consistent all year round. And, you know, of course, universally loved, but um we've got our whiskey cream in three different flavors. So um I guess after you've enjoyed a little sip of that, Lark. Christmas cask. You and the family might want to crack open a bottle of Hellier's Road. Yeah. Whiskey cream. Why not? bit whiskey cream over ice cream, which I have done before, is delectable. The little affogato to get you through that ah the late like five o'clock and you're still being fed by you know your auntie sort of vibe. yeah
Speaker: Check that out. Fantastic. dickk um Look, so, look, lots to look forward to on the Tasmanian whiskey front. We're going to change gears a little bit and come back to Melbourne, actually, where obviously we're based. um Now, ah fingers crossed you jumped on and saw Bar Selector's recent... um Well, Joey Tai from Bar Selector. She...
Speaker: put together this incredible cocktail for st Agnes um with St. Agnes' Bartenders Cut. um We were very, very lucky to have Joey on the show and making an incredible riff on a Vieux Carré. And so, look, it's a bar that I love. If you haven't been to Bar Selector in Hawthorne, please check it out.
Speaker: One of the other reasons I want to bring this up today is because they've just released this incredible gin with Dutch Rules Distilling Co. Dutch Rules, an amazing local Melbourne distillery here. And they've collaborated together to create this beautiful gin, um which we'll be having it I'll be having a taste of it properly over the next few weeks. um Just a shout out to bars and distilleries coming together, which which I love. sure yeah So, you know, you get that in Tassie. um There's just incredible collaborations and partnerships between bars and distilleries. bar selector is obviously in a fairly unique position because joey tai is also a distiller she's an absolute weapon um so she can just get on the tools and make a gin because she's an absolute how good is that totally so um so yeah just a shout out to all of those collaborations that are happening in the industry um and check out high fidelity there the dutch rule to ceiling co's gin coming out very very soon which is fantastic um
Speaker: And I guess the last little one, which I've got to give a self-plug, you know, it's not something to do it's not something I'm super comfortable with. Was there news yesterday? Yeah, there's a little bit of news. um So, yesterday, very, very lucky to um to have attended the Royal Historical Society of Victoria's awards, their history awards, the community history awards. um And very pleased to say, um look, ah yes, I wrote the book, but it was a massive collaborative effort. But... um Forgotten Spirits, the book that we published last year, the book that I wrote um in collaboration with Spirits Victoria Association, got the gong for the best um small history award, which is great. Yay! Fantastic. No, congratulations. that's really It's really big.
Speaker: Putting something like that together takes a hell of a lot of effort, um time, and all the things that we don't have much of these days. That's right. Yeah. No. So, I think the key reason for mentioning it is, look, this was, ah I guess, a labor of love. This is a project that I worked on for years. for probably over a decade and then the the writing component obviously not that long. But um a massive shout out to Spirits Victoria Association, um Department of Ag who helped to fund it. I have to give a massive shout out to a legend of the hospitality scene, Sebastian Costello, who ah without whom ah there's no way this project would have got off the ground. um a lot of people out there will know Sebby is an absolute legend. um And, you know, shout out to Marianne and and and all of the current SVA team as well because they're doing a fantastic job at supporting... distilleries here in Victoria and I think they've created a bit of a blueprint that other distilleries are following part of the reason I was in Tassie actually because um another shout out to Taylor Kendall who was down there as well who's working with Victor Stilt you know there's I think what's happening in Victoria is is fantastic a lot of other states are looking at it um for sure so just quickly what's next what's next yeah right Oh, my God. I'm still recovering from writing this one, actually. Yeah. But no, it's it's fantastic. Another shout out to Australian Scholarly Publishing as well who put this one together. And yeah, it's just fantastic to see, you know, in a room which was... um It was humbling to be in that room yesterday because there was some incredible history projects, people who were invested in, I guess, looking at the history and culture of of this place where we live. And to see, yeah, spirits get a Guernsey in and among that was was was was fantastic. So... What's next? There's a couple of little projects on the back burner. I don't know, mate. I don't know my partner is keen on me diving into another book right now. well guess let's go to the Let's go to the here and now. Where can people find and buy this wonderful new award-winning book? Very good point. So you can buy it through the Spirits Victoria Association website. um You can buy it online via um Australian Scholarly Publishing's website as well. um So if you're interested in the history of distilling spirits in this country, it's it' it's a great place to start. And yeah, my thanks again to to everyone. who's involved. um And my thanks also to the wonderful Beth Bicknell for joining me today. um Mate, it was absolute pleasure having you here, getting to know the Hellia's Road story are in more depth. If you haven't tried the whiskeys again, I don't even know if I have to say this. How much do I have to emphasize you need to get in touch? And of course, if you want to- Get online, get to the event. Whiskey Abbey, we will be there. Head distiller, Fiona Coots, and I will be doing a um deep dive into sherry cask whiskeys together. Fiona will have a very excellent um additional whiskey at a Masterclass Cheese and Whiskey Masterclass. And the legendary um Nick Miles, our brand ambassador, will be down from Brisbane for that one. So, yeah, I think i think we're going to be a stand to drop by and have a little taste and visit. We'd love to see you there. Fantastic. If you're not based in Melbourne and you want to come to Whiskey Abbey, book your flights now. If you are in Melbourne, what the hell are you doing if you don't know about Whiskey Abbey? 100%. So, so good. Come, enjoy it. um Thanks again for joining us, mate. It was wonderful. Great to be here.
Speaker: And we will see you again next week. Thank you for joining us. Cheers. The Full Measure podcast is produced and edited by Matt Hoffman. For all partnership inquiries, reach out to Craig Williams, craig at thefullmeasure.com.au.
Speaker: To keep up to date with everything happening in Australian spirits, visit thefullmeasure.com.au and subscribe.
