It’s not uncommon to return from an overseas trip brimming with enthusiasm for making life-changing decisions. Most of those decisions fade into memory, but Michael Samootin, owner of Daylesford’s newest craft distillery, Daylesford Spirit, is an exception to the rule.

In 2010 Michael and his wife Kathryn took a trip to Scotland that included visiting whisky distilleries in the north. It was a lightbulb moment.

“I was astounded by the whole set-up,” he says. “The history and the whole process of making and aging whisky appealed to me and I immediately wanted to get into it.”

Like the process of making whisky, Michael’s revelation took some time to come to fruition, requiring another life-changing decision to make it happen. Michael and Kathryn had been regular visitors to Daylesford for nearly 20 years and, during lockdown, decided to buy a property, sight unseen, just outside of Daylesford in Mount Franklin. Shortly after, they relocated from Melbourne permanently.

“There was no thought of opening a distillery initially,” says Michael. “We moved here because we loved Daylesford. But when we set about rejuvenating the property – including designing and building a new shed – I suddenly thought: why don’t I design it so that it could house a distillery.”

The can-do attitude was probably helped by Michael’s background where his prior very successful 30- year career iin the IT industry. Michael built his distillery-ready shed, joined the Australian Distillers’ Association, bought a 10-litre copper pot still and hired Jace Yendall, former whisky distiller at Starwood Whisky in Melbourne, to help him turn the dream of making great whisky, a range of classic gin and high-quality grain vodka into reality.

“Jace and I came from the same place in where we wanted to place Daylesford Spirit,” he says. “We wanted to take the distilling back to the core basics and make products that were made with the same focus as I saw in those distilleries in Scotland.”

Less than two years on, Daylesford Spirit’s gin has already won multiple awards in International spirits competitions. The whisky (“the main driver” according to Michael), is well underway and the whisky barrelling program will be launched in the next month or so. The signs have made both him and Jace “very pleasantly surprised at how good it is already”.

Winning awards is only part of the story. Michael is very much about his business highlighting, promoting and supporting his adopted home, hence the name: Daylesford Spirit. This includes introducing local botanicals to his gin (including locally-grown myrtles and pepperberries) and, of course, using the region’s famed spring water. His distillery is also carbon-neutral (the still is solar powered), his bottles are recyclable at the distillery and the labels – including for his new products, a Barrel-Aged Chardonnay Gin, Barrel-Aged Shiraz Gin and a Sloe Gin – feature historic photographs of Daylesford, sourced from the local historical society. Daylesford Spirit also donated a percentage of its sales during the 2023 ChillOut festival to an organisation supporting LGBTQI youth.

There have been challenges – setting up a distillery requires a staunch disposition when it comes to navigating licensing and planning laws. But Michael’s decision, made more than a decade ago, appears to have been the right one.

“I love and enjoy what I’m doing and where I’m doing it so much that nothing’s a problem,” he says. “And I’ve always loved a challenge.”

For more information about Daylesford Spirit’s range and stockists:

Daylesford Spirit daylesfordspirit.com.au