As you may be aware, COVID-19 absolutely demolished the travel and hospitality industry. But they weren’t the only ones left bruised and bloodied. Even artisanal distillery Bass & Flinders Distillery had to face the harsh realities of the pandemic when the Victoria shutdown came into effect, forcing them to shut their doors.
However, this is also a story of resilience and overcoming challenges as Bass & Flinders Distillery Managing Director and second-generation Head Distiller Holly Klintworth, decided to adapt to the less-than-ideal circumstances, bringing some of their services online.
This includes their ‘At Home Gin Masterclass Kits’ as a substitute for the gin-making masterclasses usually run at the distillery. This is a self-guided experience to create your own unique recipe and includes a 500ml bottle of the finished bespoke gin.
They’ve also recently released a Spring Gin tasting pack for groups of eight or more that has a gin expert run a virtual tasting session.
We had a chance to ask Holly some questions over email about their experience moving online and pivoting quickly. We will also have an opportunity to review her two brand new gins – Orient Gin and Maritime Gin – to give our readers FOMO and to put Victoria on their list of places to go.
Speaking of travelling to Australia, Holly also has some amazing advice for travellers to Victoria. Make sure to visit the Mornington Peninsula, explore Yarra Valley and travel down the Great Ocean Road. All of which have their own distilleries to visit and taste the best Australia has to offer.
If you catch Holly on a rare off day, she might be enjoying a drink. Her favourites include a Negroni, Gin Sour and a Sidecar.
How has the pivot to digital masterclasses and online selling been for Bass & Flinders?
When the distillery door was shut down in April, we swung into action producing hand sanitiser to assist local residents and the healthcare industry, which ensured our valued team remained employed during the first lockdown.
This major switch in production gave us time to brainstorm ideas and come up with our At-Home Gin Experiences as a way to deliver our popular gin flights to people’s homes. We wanted to help friends and family connect during isolation and bring enjoyment in the form of virtual tastings hosted by a Bass & Flinders gin expert.
Our ever-popular Gin Masterclasses had been drawing a steady crowd to the Mornington Peninsula. Participants could learn about the art of gin, blend their own recipe and take home a 500mL bottle of their own bespoke gin. With classes postponed during the lockdown, we resolved to package up this experience in the form of an At Home Gin Masterclass Kit, complete with blending tools, native botanicals, instructions and a video tutorial. The experience of learning how to craft a unique gin recipe and submit this to the distillery for bottling can now all be done online.
While nothing quite compares to sitting at the distillery bar enjoying a cocktail overlooking green pastures, we are looking forward to continuing our at-home tastings and virtual experiences, making our Mornington Peninsula-crafted spirits accessible to people all over the world.
Tell us a bit more about the new gins [Orient & Maritime]? What makes it so special?
I had always wanted to create a product (Maritime Gin) that was truly reflective of our home here on the peninsula, foraging ingredients locally, and drawing on the three facets that make the Mornington Peninsula unique: ocean, vineyards and bush.
- Ocean flavours: saltbush, kelp, samphire
- Vineyard: vine leaves are also included in the recipe
- Bush: lemon myrtle, currant bush (grown locally), wattle seed and strawberry gum
These above flavours I felt made this gin a quintessentially Australian Dry Gin and is a true reflection of what Australian craft gin can bring to the category. We are firm believers in celebrating the unique flavours and native ingredients found across our wonderfully diverse Australian outback.
At Bass & Flinders Distillery we draw on these unique flavours to create fresh, bright spirits that push the flavour boundaries of what to expect from a gin, and to remind you that nowhere else in the world tastes like Australia.
I also wanted to make a gin that truly tasted like a lick of salty sea air. The gin’s flavour profile is a blend of citrus, herbaceous and a hint of salty air and makes a great martini as well as a G&T with the Fevertree Mediterranean tonic.
For the Orient gin, my family has Chinese heritage, so I drew on Eastern flavours from the Chinese red date known as jujubes – grown by a farmer in Victoria, Sichuan pepper as well as a whole host of eastern flavours (eg. goji berries, kaffir lime).
Strawberry gum and wattleseed are also used in this gin to add a uniquely Australian accent. The rich flavours and texture of this gin make it a fantastic gin for pairing with food. There are so many different layers to this gin, from the bright freshness the mandarin adds, the texture from the jujubes and sesame seed, through to the peppery spices and flavours and the nuttiness from the wattleseed.
The sesame seed adds a nuttiness and roundness to the palate. The Sichuan pepper adds subtle tongue tingling spice at the front and back palate.
Both Maritime and Orient Gin form what we call our Foundation Range. These gins were made to be approachable and versatile, yet extremely unique to what else is out there. Designed to pair perfectly with a broad array of cocktails as well as designed to match with food.
Gin is complex and has infinite possibilities, so like our namesakes, we want to continue to explore and create small-batch hand-crafted drinks that people love
We are forever asked why we don’t have a London Dry Gin equivalent so Maritime fills that gap in our portfolio (yet still remains true to our region and origins).
These gins are perfect to pair with a meal, your favourite mixer or add to a cocktail. We also liked the idea of gin and food pairing. We wanted to create a range of gins that were able to be paired with meals, not just for enjoying on their own in a G&T or cocktail
The Maritime Gin goes wonderfully with oysters, and other seafood dishes, as well as savoury or citrus fresh dishes. The Orient Gin is fantastic with all sorts of spicy Asian foods, including Thai and Vietnamese.
What do you think is next for Australia’s alcohol industry?
I think that two things will start to become much more of a focus in the coming years, firstly the sustainability focus and secondly the sourcing local as we look to highlight native flavours and botanicals in order to set our spirits apart from the rest of the world.
As far as sustainability goes, we are a vine-to-bottle operation and in our quest for traceability in the industry, we aim to only use locally grown ingredients and source the raw material for our grape base spirit from a north Victorian winery where sustainable practices are also a strong focus of theirs.
As far as native flavours go, Australia is home to over 22,000 native botanicals and the distilling industry has only just started to scratch the surface of uncovering some of these and using their spirits to highlight the wonderful flavours found in our own backyard.
We at Bass & Flinders Distillery locally forage botanicals where we can, and all ingredients sourced for our Angry Ant Gin that are foraged off Wooleen Station in WA are sustainably sourced under the permission of the Department of Parks and Wildlife and under the guidance of their local elders.
What should travellers be looking out for in Australia when it comes to local alcohol?
Supporting local, independent distilleries whether it be by visiting their distillery door, buying online direct from their website or choosing local over international at any bottle shop. I definitely recommend visiting a local distillery as you’ll very easily uncover some very unique and individual stories as well as feel the passion that goes in to some of Australia’s greatest spirits.
Travel Wanderlust caters to travellers from all around the world that have a multitude of interests. One of these includes experiencing the best alcohols each country has to offer. In an ongoing series, we will speak to alcohol experts about local or regional alcohols, review drinks from across the world and introduce our readers to artisanal, local and amazing drinks. We want to give you access and information in the most authentic and honest form possible – without the fuss or pomp – but in a way to get you excited about experiencing a whole new world of alcohol when you travel
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