Four Pillars

In 2013, Cameron Mackenzie, Stuart Gregor and Matt Jones opened a small distillery in Healesville, Victoria. Their aim was simple: make the best gin they could with the best ingredients they could find in Australia, in a landscape full of native botanicals that gin-makers in London or Scotland never had access to.

Within a decade, Four Pillars had become the most awarded craft gin distillery in Australia and one of the most talked-about gin brands in the world. The Bloody Shiraz Gin, a product nobody asked for, made by steeping Shiraz grapes in their Rare Dry Gin, became a global cult product.

The defining technical decision at Four Pillars was to put whole fresh oranges, not dried peel, in the botanical basket during distillation. The steam rising through the still carries volatile aromatic oils from the fresh fruit in a way dried peel cannot replicate. The result is a brightness and freshness that has become the Four Pillars signature.

Tasmanian pepperberry gives a long, slow-building spice character, quite different from black pepper. Lemon myrtle adds a citrus lift that is distinctly Australian. Together with juniper, coriander, cardamom and lavender, they make a botanical recipe that could only come from Australia.

The Bloody Shiraz Gin began as an experiment: steeping Shiraz grapes in Rare Dry Gin for eight weeks during harvest season. The grapes turn the gin deep purple and add tannin, vinous complexity and a rich winery character. It shouldn't work, and yet it became one of the most written-about gin innovations of the decade.