One man’s quest to taste 500 Australian spirits this year

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While no longer a total night owl, I’m still not an early bird. Every day last week though, I was rudely jolted from my slumber by banging on the door and yells of “delivery!” at ungodly hours (like, before 10am — rude.) As our dining room, spare room and hallway started to fill with boxes, I had to ask myself if my fiancé’s sneaker obsession had finally gotten the better of him.

Turns out he’s actually embarking on a rather exciting, non-footwear related, endeavour. Said fiancé is Fred Siggins, a drinks writer, co-owner of Goodwater and general bartender and drinker around town. His latest project is to take the James Halliday Wine Companion system, and apply it to Australian spirits.

“The Halliday Wine Companion has been the most consistent and longstanding voice in the Australian wine industry in terms of ratings, and is the go-to reference in Australia for consumers,” says Fred. “The tasting team is a group of really well-respected wine experts and journalists around Australia, and this year, for the first time in their 40 year history, they have decided to embark upon reviewing Australian spirits with me as the primary taster.

“It’s really cool because it’s not something that’s happened before in a comprehensive way.”

The timing of this says a lot about the state of the Australian distilling industry today. “In the modern context we’ve been making spirits in Australia for the last thirty years or so when those original Tasmanian craft distilleries started to pop up in the early 90s, but it's gained momentum in the last 10 years or so and we’ve seen a real explosion of Australian spirits.

“So, not only is there a huge amount of products out there now, but they’re also far enough along that they’re starting to get really, really good,” explains Fred. He cites the international acclaim for Australian spirits, with distilleries such as Archie Rose, The Gospel, Hartshorn and Never Never Distilling Co. now regularly leaving overseas counterparts in the dust in worldwide spirits competitions.

“The other part of it is that the drinking habits of Australians are changing – to use a silly marketing term there’s a lot more promiscuity amongst younger drinkers, people want to try different things, people are drinking cocktails. Cocktails weren’t really a thing in Australia 20 years ago and now you can get a cocktail at the pub. So people are drinking different spirits in different contexts.

“It’s coming at it from both sides, there’s the supply of amazing spirits being created here and there’s the demand from the drinking population of Australia to be trying new things.”

Of course there are already some well respected Australian spirits competitions that have done a lot to support and champion the distilling renaissance, but they do tend to be a bit more industry facing and technically focused. The Halliday format is targeted directly at the consumer, and considers the product as a whole package; Fred won’t be tasting blind.

“It's about things like value for money, point of difference, the brand story, the labelling and the packaging – most of the scores will come from nose, palate, balance and so on, but I also want to be able to tell people what the best drinks are for a specific context,” he says. “This is going to work best in a Gin and Tonic, this will make a great Martini; you’ll love this whisky if you like big smoky stuff or this one if you prefer a rich fortified wine character.

“The point is to help familiarise Australian drinkers with the spirits being made here, and what the intent behind those spirits is.” 

One of the parts Fred is most excited about is the archiving aspect of the project. “You can go and look at everything a distillery has produced, whether core products or specific special releases and see what the score is for that whole distillery. That’s going to be a permanent online catalogue that people can look to, so over time it's going to become a really amazing database.”

This is something I can see being really useful for the hospitality industry as well – I know that as a busy bar manager I often felt I was too reliant on a few trusted distributors or portfolios without the time to taste more widely, and a resource like this can build confidence to take a chance on Australian products over well known international brands. 

“I’m just a massive advocate and fan of Australian spirits, I really don’t think there’s too much reason to be looking elsewhere.”

He has 500 spirits to taste in this first year, ably supported by Jess Clayfield from Black Kite Commune in the gin category (as no one person can possibly taste all the gins this country produces solo), so I suppose I have a few more early morning deliveries to look forward to yet. 

Around the Bars

• I had my first visit to Society Lounge Bar this week, the more ‘casual’ (comparatively speaking) side of Chris Lucas’ Collins Street fine diner and spent a personal record $105 on a cocktail. This was not just any cocktail though – it was a vintage Bianco Negroni, made from bottles from the 1950s through to the 1970s, prepared tableside. Make sure you’ve signed up to receive the Boothby print magazine to hear my thoughts, and more about vintage spirits in general.
• We’re hosting Cantina OK! at Goodwater this Sunday which I’m very excited for! There is a masterclass from 2pm to 4pm (spots can be reserved by emailing annie@muchogroup.com.au, although they are limited), but Jordon Grocock and Chris Elliott will be taking over the bar from 4:30pm onwards, no reservations required. Pop down to experience some of the famous OK! hospitality.
• Whisky & Alement has a special corn whiskey tasting this week to celebrate this under appreciated grain. The line up includes some Aussie corn whiskies alongside Americans, and even a Mexican example. Owner Julian White kindly dropped a discount code for industry folks, just use IndustryLove at checkout.