As we prepare to celebrate World Gin Day this Saturday, 12 June, we thought we would give you a little round-up of all the gin joints in FNQ.
MT Uncle
Without question, the patriarch of Far North Queensland's award-winning gin output, Mount Uncle cuts a dash in many drink cabinets and not only for its gin. Not to be missed are the Botanic Australis, a perfect dry-style gin based on an original London dry gin recipe but with the original ingredients substituted with Australian native botanicals. Our own office favourite is their Bushfire Smoked Gin, an instant classic. This smoky, unique gin is based on the same original London dry gin recipe, the individual botanicals remain the same as in their classic Botanic Australis however have been smoked first to create a rich, smoky, woody flavour.
Wolf Lane Distillery
Making a classic dry gin from the abundance of botanicals available from the region, award-winning Wolf Lane Tropical Gin has gone on to accolade and award, creating another unique product distinct from other Australian and international gins. This gin features 13 botanicals, all hailing from this tropical region. Not content with one award-winning distillate, the Wolf Lane distillers put together another one of our favourites, a Davidson Plum Gin. Based on the traditional underpinnings of a slow gin, this multi-award-winning effort takes on locally grown Davidson plums instead of sloes. All this creating a perfect after-dinner gin, but it does muck up the name of the racy cocktail involving walls.
Wild River Mountain Distillery
A small-batch distillery trying hard to illustrate exactly where the back of beyond is. Wild River has created some unique flavours by focusing on artisan products using local ingredients and combining traditional and modern techniques. Particularly exciting is their Wild Dragon Gin, and not only because it has such a great name. This traditional gin’s ingredients combines Aussie lemon & anise myrtle, pepper berry, quandong and finger lime with the subtleties of tropical dragon fruit. It is well worth seeking out.
www.wildrivermountaindistillery.com.au
Devils Thumb Distillery
Based a few Kms outside of Port Douglas, Devils Thumb is a comparatively new kid on the FNQ gin block but has entered the fray with some outstanding products. Their Signature Dry Gin is beautifully crisp with a very even-tempered use of local botanicals, and their Rainforest Gin is a perfect balance of local flavours with notes to take you straight into the tropical jungle. Non-gin related, keep an eye out for their cane spirit, reminiscent of the old colonial Bahamian rums.
Distil on the Hill and Narrow tracks Distillery
Two new players in the craft spirit arena due shortly to launch; we are looking forward to tasting what comes out of the copper! Distil on the Hill is based at Kuranda, the creation of Christian and Neddy Bedwell and will be launching officially toward the end of July.
Narrow tracks (so named after the cane train tracks that crisscross the region) is also set for a July start. Owned and run by Cairns locals Bec Zammit and Doug Thorpe their first batch release is set to be a contemporary style gin due out in July.
We'll keep you posted.
