‘Every bottle has a story waiting to be discovered’ said Katrina and Vaughan O’Connor when King Island Distillery Bass Strait soft launched their King Island premium products this week.
Travelling up North, the multi-million-dollar investment distillery buildings emerge from the soil, nestled into the landscape and glisten in the sun.
The first spirit releases mark the birth of a new premium King Island product. “What started as an idea for a small distillery in 2015, and officially commenced as a business on August 2, 2017, has now blossomed into a remarkable journey with a commercial distillery on one of the world’s most remote islands that is now delivering high-end, ultra-premium quality products at volume,” Ms O’Connor said.
“After years of planning and building the distillery we are excited to share our King Island-made products with the world. Our vision for the distillery has always been to create world-class products with world-class ingredients,” founder Vaughan O’Connor said.
“The on-ground production team – Jason, Tristan and Nathan should be extremely proud of what they have produced.
They are now making whisky on a weekly basis for maturation and outputting ultrapremium vodka, gin and moonshine.”
“We are thrilled to release the first of our product range which includes two gins – King Island Coastal Gin and Gidley Dry Gin and a moonshine, Martha’s Moonshine – something a little unexpected.
“It would be incredible to see our ultra-premium spirits served at King Island bars and restaurants, and we have just created a wholesale portal on our website to facilitate these types of orders,” Mr O’Connor said.
King Island Distillery also leases the café space at King Island Airport and is providing a temporary coffee van while preparing to develop the airport space.
“Shopfitters remeasured the flagship retail space at the airport and off-island construction has begun,” Mr O’Connor said.
“We understand the community is eager for a great cup of coffee and food options to return to the airport and we will be focussed on supporting local businesses in retailing their products where we can collaborate.”