All that was seven years ago.

The Scots tell us that to make excellent malt whiskies you need good water, barley and clean air.
So what is wrong with Australia?

With the magnificent climate here, we produce some of the world’s best barley, so good in fact, that huge quantities are exported to make single malt whiskies around the world including Scotland.

Our air is very clean compared to many overseas countries and we boast one of the best water supplies available.

With clean air, good water and an abundance of excellent barley why couldn’t we make world class single malt whisky? And that is exactly the thoughts that went through David Baker’s mind prior to establishing his “Bakery Hill Distillery”.

One thing that proved to be the jewel in the crown for David was Australia’s unique climate. But more on that later.

David commenced laboratory trials in 1999 to fully understand the process of converting barley into whisky. These trials centred on two aspects of whisky production.

Firstly, the conversion of malted barley into a material similar to an unhopped beer called “wash” and secondly the distillation of the wash to produce the spirit.

These trials involved perfecting the brewing process conditions and trialling an enormous range of different yeasts to convert the sugary ‘wort’ into both alcohol and all the other flavour components which ultimately give the whisky its style and class.
The temperatures and times involved in the mashing process are critical to giving Bakery Hill Malt whisky its unique flavour.
Confident that he had the results he was looking for, David’s next step was to scale up the process to full commercial size. This was done with the use of equipment at the Mountain Goat Brewery in Richmond, a company that George, from Hart to Hart had built many excellent fermentors for.

While all this experimental work was being undertaken to investigate the best brewing conditions and adapt them to Australian conditions, the second stage in whisky production, distillation were being considered.

To make a top whisky, then top equipment was required as it is legendary that poor trades people ultimately blame their tools for any failure. To assist in the production of the perfect still David engaged an engineering company in the UK that had a long tradition of building whisky stills. By describing the style and characteristics he wanted in his whisky, the engineering company was able to draw up plans for a 1000 litre copper still to produce the spirit. For all the other tanks required, David utilised the services of Hart to Hart engineering who designed, constructed and installed them.

After all this experimental work spirit commenced to flow in early 2000 and like all good whiskies then needed to be matured in oak for many years to fully develop the flavour. Bakery Hill uses American Oak Bourbon casks sourced from Jack Daniels in the US to mature their whisky and once filled with new make spirit are left to develop its characteristic flavour and aroma.

In places like Scotland it takes up to ten years to mature a whisky that is palatable ready for bottling. But here in Australia, David was about to discover another reason why this country is perfect for single malt whisky manufacture.

In Scotland the temperatures are cold or bloody cold say David, but in Australia the ambient temperatures are much higher and the daily temperatures may fluctuate here from 10 to 30 degrees.

This maturation is a chemical process and if we warm up any chemical reaction it occurs a little faster. And so it is for whisky. Faster in fact, as David’s 5 year old whisky has similar characteristics to a 10 to 12 year old Scotch.

What a bonus!

The demands on production have increased to such an extent that the initial phase, that of producing the unhopped beer away from the distillery will be fully integrated at the Bakery Hill Distillery together with the possibility of also producing a small quantity of its own beer.
The design and construction for all these brewing vessels has been under the control of George Hart and should be fully installed by the end of this month.

Once fully installed, Bakery Hill’s production capacity will increase five fold.

David’s faith in being able to produce an excellent single malt whisky in Australia has been vindicated with his whiskies winning many national and international awards.

So far the only major problem with production is that Bakery Hill Distillery is unable to keep up with demand so if you want a bottle you better get your order in early!

or my self on +61 3 98657 7070.

Or visit www.intair.com.au

13 distilleries including Speyside, the Islands, Highland and Lowlands; 3 world famous golf courses from the home of golf; the beguiling Scottish countryside with its lochs, glens and moors; traditional Scottish hospitality and distillery experiences personally arranged to provide the ultimate adventure.
For those wanting more, a 2 day stopover in Dubai is available to break the trip.

I will be guiding the tour personally and would love you to accompany me on this
” Ultimate Whisky and Golf Experience”.

For more details of this fantastic package may I refer you to the IntAir Corporate Travel web site.
www.intair.com.au

or why not e-mail me directly at David @bakeryhilldistillery.com.au with any of your questions.

Sometimes I just wonder why I do these things, just like living on the edge I guess.

It was decided late last year to incorporate a brewery at the distillery so the entire process was under the “one roof”. By doing this issues such as production scheduling and quality control could be more careful monitoring and adjusted where necessary.

Demand for our malts has been so great from both local and overseas outlets that unless we wished to continue rationing supplies drastic measures were needed. Production will be ramped up when the brewery is completed and commissioned in about 5 weeks.

The first of the vessels, two 2000 litre fermenters built by Hart to Hart Fabrications in Dandenong Victoria were carefully lifted into position. The mash tun and kettle are expected in about 4 weeks and with 2 weeks commissioning, we should be in full production towards the end of April.

As one of the major focal points to the Whisky Convention, the Maxxium Group (The macallan, and Highland Park to name two) proposed that they would be very happy to initiate a perpetual trophy to be presented to the producer of the best Australian Single Malt Whisky.

All the malt whiskies were judged and Bakery Hill Distillery was declared the grand champion Mr. Andrew Skeen presented the trophy to David Baker (Distiller and Owner) at Fideles, Crown Casino.

As the whisky convention is scheduled for August 2007 we look forward to defending the trophy.

On the 4th of December 2004 the entire Gillies Club met at the distillery and under supervision distilled their own malt. This culminated in the “Ceremonial Filling of the selected cask”, this done all members signed and dated the head.

In Australia spirit must be matured in oak for a minimum of 2 years and having just passed this milestone the club now owns real whisky which will continue to mature until thirst or curiosity takes over and the malt is bottled.

As popularity grew for both Bakery Hills malt whiskies and Mountain Goats beers it was inevitable that eventually we would have to produce our own wash.

A number of manufacturers were approached for input and as a result a system was chosen be which will be capable of producing wash in the volumes we require.
At this stage a mash tun, a kettle and two fermenters have been ordered and we anticipate delivery within 8 weeks.

Once the system have been commissioned we will ramp up production hopefully to enable us to mount a half decent marketing campaign in the future.

This turn about was the result of months of intense lobbying by the individual distilleries, the Australian distillers association and the public.

Consumers can be assured that any Australian sprit labeled Whisky, Brandy or Rum has been fully matured in wood for a minimum of two years. As a consequence of this, any spirit imported from overseas must also abide by this requirement.

This result has been achieved primarily by the ground swell of support by the public and I would like to thank all those who sent notes of encouragement to me or protest to our government. Without your support this would never have happened.

Lets put this behind us and get on with the job of making great Australain whisky.