By Fiona Breenn, Laurissa Smith
Photo: 123RF
Some of Tasmania's 90 whisky distillers are going to great lengths to give their drops a distinct style.
One producer sends his barrels on an abalone boat, another smokes the grain with sheep poo.
Another 10 distilleries are under development in Tasmania, but the industry said there is more than enough room due to the state's reputation for high quality whisky.
Some said whisky is influenced by the terroir of the barley or the peat used to enhance its flavour.
But one Tasmanian producer reckons it is the ocean that shapes his tipple.
Brewer Michael Briggs ships barrels for 12 months on an abalone boat, crediting the salt air and motion of the waves with giving his whisky a hint of brine.
He said the first round of sea-going whisky sold out, and another has just come off the boat.
"That contact with wood is what we're chasing, and certainly the salt air, you can't get it any rawer than that...actually floating around on the sea," Briggs said.
"To have those influences coming into the spirit has been a testament to the experiment...it's been a really good result," he added.
Crafting a distinct taste
It shows the lengths some of Tasmania's whisky makers will go to set their products apart.
With more and more distilleries in Tasmania competing in the high-end whisky market, getting noticed is key, according to the president of Tasmania's Whisky Association, Kristy Lark-Booth.
"There are around 80 to 90 distilleries that are sort of producing and out in the market, and there are probably another 10 or so setting up at the moment," she said.
"We're all competing in the marketplace, so each distillery wants to speak its unique story and unique products."
In the state's south, sixth-generation farmer Peter Bignell is well known for experimental elements in his whisky.
His smoky whiskies tend to stand out in the expanding market.
"We started to use sheep dung instead of peat … and we smoke the grain with the burning sheep dung," Bignell said.
He believes the market is getting crowded.
"There are a lot of distilleries coming online, looking for that same market, for those people who like different flavours," he said.
"One of the things I started, right at the start 14 years ago, was to do rye instead of malt whisky made from barley.
"Then I got into smoking with peat, then I got into the sheep dung idea.
"We've got quite a loyal following, but we've always got to push, push, push."
A bold taste
Experimenting with peat is a big part of the Furneaux Distillery story too.
It is based at Sawyers Bay, on the eastern side of Flinders Island, off Tasmania's north-east tip.
Distiller Tom Ambroz says the island's coastal peat bogs help create a truly maritime-peated whisky.
"Right next to these lagoons, there's big sand dunes and then the ocean, and the vegetation next to that peat is really different," he said.
"It's Tasmanian natives, it's melaleuca, tussocks and saltmarsh herbs that give our peat, almost like an Aussie bushfire flavour.
"It's kind of like the vegemite of the whisky world, people either love it or hate it," admits Ambroz.
The distillery now grows its barley on the island, joining the ranks of many paddock to bottle outfits across the state.
"Having that rainwater catchment, being in this maritime environment, where there's salt in the air, salt in the water, quite a high humidity.
"All of those factors are going to mean that our whisky is going to be completely different to anyone else's," said Ambroz.
American style, local ingredients
There are only a handful of Tasmanian distilleries that have ventured into American-style whisky territory.
For Turners Stillhouse at Grindelwald in the Tamar Valley, it was a no-brainer.
Its Californian-born owner, Justin Turner, wanted to create something unique using Tasmanian-grown corn and rye.
"Half our production is single malt, the other half comprises of American-style bourbon and corn and rye whisky," he said.
"A bourbon is defined as 51 percent corn in your recipe and the rest would be a balance of rye and malted barley."
The distillery sources its rye from Bothwell in the state's central highlands, and its corn is grown in Sassafras in the north-west.
It is matured in new oak barrels and the corn makes it a little sweeter than single malt.
"Australians are actually some of the largest consumers per capita of American-style bourbons globally, interestingly," said Turner.
"We can't call our bourbon 'bourbon' here, because of the geographical indicator. Just like you can't call champagne 'champagne' out of France.
"But I think there is a market for it because a lot of the whisky here is single malt, which we also produce and love as well.
"Having those different grain style whiskies, I think will add something different to the mix that consumers are asking for more and more now."
-This story was originally published by ABC News.
