Our Story
Why 'Dusty Barrel' Distillery?
Our story began earlier but during the setting up of the business, I would often drag the family around to visit other distilleries and during one of these trips, my daughter, who was three at the time, leant on a dusty barrel and uttered those words. This then became our name for the business – Dusty Barrel Distillery was born!
Rekindling The Love...
Years passed. I got married and we had a little one in tow, when we went on a trip to a place called Mendooran, in Regional NSW. We stayed the night at the local camp site where I was reading about the whiskey industry in Australia. I decided to look up distilleries in the areas we were going to camp at, and to my surprise, found that Black Gate Distillery was in Mendooran.
I phoned the number on the gate and Brian, from Black Gate Distillery, welcomed us in. Spending the day with Brian and learning about whiskey rekindled my love of distilling and spirits. Looking at Brian’s operation, I knew this was what I wanted to do and the investigation began…
Two years from that day, we have set up a business, with a still being made and a new shed on my farm under way.
Our Story Begins...
Years ago, travelling through Europe, I went to visit a few schnapps distilleries and found the process fascinating. Whilst whiskey was my preferred choice, I found a greater appreciation of other spirits. Opportunity arose whilst on one tour to work at the distillery and learn the process. It was an amazing week of my life. My rolling thoughts were: “how do I possibly do this back home?” and that thought always stayed in the back of my mind after coming home.
See What We've Been Up To Lately...
Our family wants to share our story and our love of whiskey and schnapps with our friends, family and community. We want to showcase what we can produce from local fruit growers and grain suppliers and have a true local spirit that beats the best in the world!