Already a mecca for wine and beer, WA’s Margaret River region may soon be making a name for itself in the whiskey market.
Local distillery, The Grove Experience, laid down the region’s first single malt whiskey earlier this year, an achievement that the distiller’s head of production, Nick Hughes, said has been in the pipeline for years.
“We’ve been wanting to make our own whiskey for at least six or seven years,” Hughes told The West.
“It’s all a process and we’ve been getting everything in place to make it happen.”
The distillery has been creating a traditional American-style spirit for the past three years, which involves employing very stringent production methods where barrels can only be used once. These barrels however, can be reused to create whiskey, according to Hughes.
Hughes said that as there was little cross-over between creating different types of spirits, the creation of the whiskey is a relatively smooth process, but it could be a matter of years before we see a firm release date for the local spirit.
“It could be affected by the climate. If it’s hot it could speed up the release by six months, but if there’s a cold snap it could take a little longer,” he said.
Hughes said that the preliminary tastings at the distillery were a success, but the whiskey is expected to stay in the barrel for at least three years before an official release.