Making sloe gin

The kindness of friends in our local community in making sure we had food in the house during our self-isolation period after returning from Germany has been extremely humbling. While I feel a little guilty as I am not sick (touch wood), I am so very grateful. Without their support and offers of help, it would have been challenging to have a normal-ish life at home. These lovely people have dropped off milk, bread, eggs, vegetables, home made soup, Tim Tams and even great German beer, which will be perfect for washing away the disappointment of cutting short our holiday.

Among the doorstep deliveries was a bag of sloes. Sloe gin is something I hadn't tried until moving to Tasmania. My top tips for the local ones would be those from McHenry and Nonesuch Distillery, quite different but both delicious. Now I'm about to try making some myself, using this recipe from 'Gourmet Farmer' Matthew Evans. We'll get to find out what it tastes like in somewhere between three and six months time.

McHenry

On my recent visit to the Tasman Peninsula to walk the Three Capes Track, I couldn't leave without making a stop at McHenry Distillery. As I pulled into the car park, a wedge tailed eagle soared above and sun filtered through the forest. It's a beautiful spot that reminded me of our own home up in the hills. Some time back, wandering through Salamanca Market with my mum, I stopped to try McHenry's Classic Dry Gin and a bottle came home in my shopping bag. It's definitely now my favourite gin. Anyway, the last bottle ran out last year and I was keen to see where it was made. In the cosy tasting room (pictured here) I tried their Federation Gin, which uses one botanical from every state of Australia, and a bottle came home with me too. I had a brief tour around the distillery and bond store. If you're visiting Port Arthur, make sure McHenry's is on your itinerary. I doubt you'll leave empty handed.

Whisky school

Sounds like a pretty good kind of school, right? And it is. The Tasmanian Whisky Academy runs courses and industry education and events. I attended their Foundations of Distilling course this week, together with aspiring distillers from as far afield as Townsville, the Sunshine Coast and the Macleay valley. It was a cracking couple of days packed with information. For whisky and gin lovers, the course is a great insight into the process of producing the beautiful crafted beverages we enjoy. For anyone thinking about starting their own distillery, it provides both loads of inspiration and a healthy reality check. Either way, you'll learn at least a few things you didn't know about the art and business of distilling.

After a morning covering the distilling process and an overview of the business with Sullivans Cove head distiller Patrick Maguire, one of the 'founding fathers' of Tasmania's whisky industry, we took a trip out to local brewery Moo Brew. There we learned from brewer Rowl about the brewing process and how the 'wash' is made, from the supply of quality malted barley, through milling, mashing and fermenting. In the past, Moo Brew has supplied several of Tasmania's best whisky makers with their wash, although at present they are concentrating on other things, such as an exciting whisky barrel aged stout that we were lucky enough to taste.

We spent the afternoon at award winning whisky maker Sullivans Cove for a walk through the distillation process from delivery of the wash to the barrel, where it stays for at least 12 years, and beyond. The sheer amount of whisky knowledge stored in production manager Heather's head really blew me away. At home that evening, David handed me an article from this week's Tasmanian Country newspaper about how a bottle of Sullivans Cove American Oak Single Cask had sold for $11,667 in an auction through Christies of London. And proceeds from the sale will go to charity. Wow. It was one of the last remaining bottles of this year's world's best single cask single malt.

The following morning we were out at Nonesuch Distillery, a boutique Tasmanian distiller of small batch spirits, primarily gin and now whisky. Owner and distiller Rex is truly passionate about his product - and you have to be - as he said, there's no point making gin you don't want to drink. It was great to see a smaller, newer distillery in operation and the solutions Rex has come up with to a wide range of challenges. Everyone I've met in the industry so far (I'm sure there are exceptions) is so supportive of others wanting to follow them. Our group asked lots of questions, and even the cheeky ones (a gin maker's recipe is always a secret) were answered with expertise, experience and good humour. The spirit of coopetition is alive and well in Tasmania's distilling industry. I took home a delicious sloe gin as well as some classic Nonesuch Dry Gin. Now I need to rearrange the 'drinks cabinet' to fit them in - not a bad problem to have.

From sheep whey to vodka

Turn water to wine? How about sheep whey to vodka? Hartshorn Distillery in Birchs Bay, Tasmania is doing exactly that. This week we attended a local business function hosted by the Kingborough & Huon Business Enterprise Centre. Owner and head distiller Ryan Hartshorn had the idea to turn a byproduct of his family's business Grandvewe Cheese, whey from sheep milk, into vodka and gin. We had a tour of the premises (I was happy to scratch the chin of one of their friendly sheep) followed by a tasting. The fermented whey is distilled in the pot still (pictured right) and to make gin, the spirit is distilled through the beautiful glass reflux still pictured below, passing through a blend of secret herbs and spices (well, botanicals) including some local Tasmanian flowers and leaves. Ryan even paints each bottle by hand, resulting in a truly ewe-nique product that would make a lovely gift from Tassie. I liked the "whisky-like" barrel aged vodka, so I bought a bottle to take home. P.S. For more sheepish humour courtesy of Grandvewe, see below.