With no real plans for Wednesday, we once
again consulted our then trusty guide, where we quickly learned 2 things: 1) in addition to their growing wine, cheese
and seafood reputation, Tasmania also makes great whiskey and 2) there was a
distillery somewhat on our way that offered tours daily from 9-5pm.
We had our destination!
Located in the town of Bothwell, Nant
distillery is a producer of one of Australia’s finest whiskeys. Originally a flour mill built in 1823, the
land and sandstone buildings lay unused for years until it was purchased and
turned into a distillery. We were
excited to check it out, but first we had to get there…and in time. After a full day of touring we made it to
Bothwell around 4:30, allowing us only 30 minutes before closing. We turned off the main road following the
clearly marked signs noting Nant Distillery 1 km. And making good time, we began to relax… that
is until we turned a corner directly into a flock of sheep that appeared to be
crossing the narrow road. Unfortunately
for us, the “flock” was over 1,500 sheep and instead of crossing the road, two
pick-up trucks were corralling them down the fenced in dirt road in the
direction we needed to go. And just like
that our 30 minutes of spare time turned into 10.
Sheep herding
At one point, the 2 trucks stopped to herd
up some stragglers so Martin and I continued along ahead, through the middle of
the flock, using our horn to hurry up the process (these sheep were well
trained – with the quick beep of the horn all those within earshot would begin
trotting a little bit faster). After
finally passing the majority of the group we made it to the entrance of the
distillery car park…only to find the gates closed. We had herded 1,500 sheep 1km to find the
tasting room closed.
Only a small portion of the group
With nothing left to do but laugh and let
the sheep pass, Martin causally asked one of the truck-herders about the
distillery to which we learned that we had passed one of the managers just a
few meters back and he might be able to help.
We quickly drove back, Martin hopped out of
the car and with a few magic words, we were back on track! The distillery
tasting room in fact closes at 4pm (our book was wrong) but upon hearing our
accents, the manager Anthony, who was in fact the head distiller, decided to
let us in a for a tasting and quick tour.
He promised us 10 minutes, we got over 30 and they were wonderful.
As we enjoyed our first taste of the smooth
and flavorful liquid gold, we were treated to a private tour of the grounds
including watching the old mill still operate under the force of moving
water. The wood cogs were all original,
along with the original sandstone mill building, however the modern tasting
room was a complimentary new addition.
The old mill
And new tasting room
We ended the tour with another taste, a
purchase of a bottle (which we will enjoy once we get home) and an experience
of a life-time.
So happy.
On a side note: we were informed by Anthony
that as a way to finance the business, casks of the whiskey were pre-sold to
investors at the very beginning. These
casks could either be kept for personal consumption (although 170 bottles for
personal use seems a bit excessive) or sold back to the company for a nice
return. Similar to the wine industry, it
takes about 3 years to break even and I thought this was a unique way to
finance the start. Casks go for about
$5,000 so once we are done with construction, I know where my next investment
will be!
