Our Scottish Still – An Australian First

This week we commissioned our newly installed Forsyths copper pot still, the first to be shipped from Scotland to Australia. 

Forsyths have been serving the Scottish whisky industry since the 1890s and is revered as one of the world’s leading still makers.

We chose Forsyths because of their vast knowledge and experience and ability to customise a still to meet our requirements.

Since 2012 we've been operating in a 9m x 7m farm shed. We quickly ran out of space, and when people seemed to be loving Ink Gin we had the confidence to make the big, scary decision to build a brand new distillery.

We knew we needed a bigger still but were unsure what type would best suit our needs. Since 2012 we’ve been making rum using the traditional malt whisky double pot distillation method, so we decided to tour the whisky distilleries of Scotland for inspiration.

Of course, it was the small farm distilleries that inspired us most, particularly Ballindalloch in Speyside and Kilchoman, Islay. These busy little operations had a real buzz about them and both featured beautiful Forysth stills as their centre piece. 

We made a slight detour to the Forsyths factory in Rothes where we inspected a vast array of stills bound for customers in the UK and USA and two and a half years later we are very excited to commission our own beautiful Scottish still.

Third generation still maker Richard Forsyth told us that with the installation of the Husk Distillers Forsyth still, they can now claim to have Forsyth stills producing fine spirits in every corner of the globe.

Most stills are named after notable women, similar to ships. But our Forsyth always had a more masculine aura. We have christened him ‘Fat Bastard’ after the Scottish character in the Austin Powers films. If you can't remember him, here's a reminder.

Now that Fat Bastard is commissioned, we're beyond excited to join the likes of Glenlivet, Yamakazi, Patron, Woodford Reserve, Appleton Estate and Glenfiddich, all of which use Forsyth stills to create the smooth, iconic character of their spirits.

The Scottish connection was further strengthened after meeting William “Buzz” Hutcheson at Diageo’s Cardhu distillery. After 28 years as head distiller at Cardhu, Buzz retired on Christmas eve 2017 and two weeks later was in Tumbulgum helping install the new still.

“There’s no making a good spirit without a good still, and in my opinion Forsyth are the best of the best,” said Buzz. “You can’t say better than that."