Patience should reap rewards for Corowa Distilling Co. when its barrels of maturing whisky finally come of age.
Founder Dean Druce, who was brought up learning the family business of wheat, chocolate and liquorice, also has a passion for quality whisky and has spent time learning how to make whisky from master distillers in Scotland.
But there’s a catch. Producing whisky is a very slow process.
“From start to finish it takes over a week to make, then it has to sit in a barrel for a minimum of two years,” Dean said.
“The majority of ours will sit for five to ten – it’s a fair wait.”
But there is excitement on the horizon.
“It’s getting there. We’re really happy with select barrels at the moment,” Dean said.
“A nice hot summer will fix the whisky up fairly well and it looks like some of them will be ready at the two-year mark, so it should be ready to go by Easter next year.”
The timing couldn’t be more perfect, with Australian consumers seemingly enjoying a new found appreciation of whisky produced by craft distilleries.
“Traditionally whisky was the drink for 50 plus males, but it’s no longer a segregated group, it’s becoming popular with everyone,” Dean said.
“They’re finding there are more characteristics in good, single malt, single cask barrels than they’ve ever seen before. They have so much uniqueness to them and are really interesting to drink.”
Although his whisky isn’t quite ready for consumption, Dean is determined to keep his products top of mind.
“The interest that’s already shown in it is amazing. It’s turning that interest into sales and getting people drinking our product.
“We’ve got whisky dinners coming up, and wine dinners and a few other things, that will definitely happen for our brand recognition,” Dean said.
Among the events is an Australian Whisky & Gin Degustation at Corowa Whisky & Chocolate on November 4, where guests will enjoy a seven course dinner matched with Australian craft spirits from distillers across the country.
For more about the degustation visit: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/australian-whisky-gin-degustation-tickets-37444678040
For more on Corowa Distilling Co. visit: https://www.facebook.com/corowadistillingco/
