Distil on the Hill is one of Australia’s newest and most successful micro gin distilleries. They have created a buzz on the world stage with the phenomenal success of their Far North Queensland takes on the classic London dry gin, all produced from their humble mountain home at Jumrum Springs in the magnificent Kuranda rainforest.
Neddy and Christian Bedwell met many moons ago when they both worked in the hospitality industry here, Christian as a chef and Neddy (Nerida) as a bartender. Little did they know as they spent their evenings looking up at the Kuranda range discussing new flavours and cocktail creations that they would one day call Saddle Mountain home, raising a family and proudly having their own award-winning distillery.
Christian’s family never doubted the couple would become distillers with their own label; the Lark family from which he sprang has been renowned for their distilling in Australia for generations. Realising they both favoured gin over any other spirit, London dry gin in particular, Neddy and Christian knew they had found their niche within the distilling realm and spent years gaining the family knowledge and traditions of distilling, which also included an ongoing mentorship with Kangaroo Island Distillery.
Their chance to start distilling arose when Christian’s parents gifted them a 20-litre copper still, affectionately known as Tiny Tim, and Distil on the Hill was born. “Using a copper still and the century-aged artform ensures even heat distribution, resulting in a quality spirit,” Christian says. “Handcrafting allows us to extract the best flavours and botanicals from every batch.”
July 2021 saw the launch of the Distil on the Hill label, which artfully incorporates the contour lines of the Kuranda range, and running through the word ‘GIN’, the Saddle Mountain ridgeline they had gazed upon many moons ago from Yorkey’s Knob. The first product launch was their Mandarin Gin, a punchy London dry perfectly balanced with infusions of mandarin, juniper and pepper. It was bold enough to serve with a tonic without losing any elements and it won them double gold in San Francisco two months later.
Encouraged by their success, they created their second in, Jindilli. It is a contemporary floral gin that honours the produce of the Atherton Tablelands by the inclusion of local orange blossom, native berries, and macadamias in their botanicals. Distil on the Hill also proudly honour First Nations’ Tongue in the name, as ‘Jindilli’ means macadamia. Another silver award caught the eye of Australia’s most prestigious gin club, Garden Street Gin Club, who then placed a huge order. With no way to fulfil the order in ‘Tiny Tim’, Christian and Neddy were luckily able to use the facilities at Blend Etiquette distillery in Adelaide to produce enough Jindilli for all.
A chance encounter and find of sloe berries at a market gave Neddy and Christian the inspiration to create one of the rarest styles of gin as their third release, Sloe Gin. With sloe berries only found in Tasmania on Australian shores, the couple managed to secure their very own personal forager to collect the elusive berries, which are then steeped in their signature mandarin gin to create a delicious dance on the palate.
Not content with just these successes, Neddy and Christian felt they needed a savoury gin in the range and have been inspired by dry martinis and the Far North’s beaches to create PIPI. Stepping into the new age with a botanical range including foraged pipi shells, apples, dried tomatoes and kaffir limes, PIPI has a fresh, salty and exotic flavour to tease your palate.
