To those familiar with pandemic lockdowns, a group of stir-crazy friends getting together on Zoom over a few gin and tonics is nothing unusual. But not all virtual drinking sessions are created equal. In the case of Jamie Owen and his mates, their regular boredom-busting meetings not only gave everyone’s mental health a lift but led to the creation of Gindu, a Newham-based gin distilling business which, since releasing its first gin in 2021, has clocked up a trophy-cabinet full of national and international spirit awards.

Gindu is short for Gin Down Under and the idea behind the brand was to create a range of gins, all using native botanicals from across Australia, that represent a sense of place. That this was a lockdown-inspired project is not surprising. Jamie and his mates had all met through the travel industry and, at a time when actual travel wasn't possible, Gindu offered it in another form,
a journey around Australia via the palate.

“All of us were connected through the travel industry and because of lockdown a few of the group were out of work” says Jamie, who, along with his wife Leighan (rhymes with Megan), helps run the business and its original distillery from their property in Newham.

“We all had a shared love of travel and of gin and so we came up with an idea for a business that would combine the two.” 

They didn’t go into the project cold. Jamie had experience of the vagaries of liquor licencing after helping to set up the locally-based Rock & Ranges brewing Co-operative and also had a long-term fascination with distilling.

“I had a love for chemistry at school and, being a Scot, I have a penchant for spirits,” he says. “I’ve had a long fascination with gin and the process where you can create something from nothing that can evoke a sense of place, in our case, a sense of great destinations all across Australia.”

All of Gindu gins are made with imported juniper (“though we do get it from Macedonia, which fits in name at least with the Macedon Ranges”) but all other botanicals are from Australia. In their signature, award-winning An Australian Dry, for example, there is blood lime, anise myrtle, wattle seed, saltbush and mountain pepperberry.

Gindu also does a line of specialty gins including the amber-coloured Billy Tea Gin, which is steeped for 48 hours with a teabag filled with native lemongrass, scented emu bush, blue gum and white kunzea.

While the rapid expansion of Gindu has meant that the gin is now distilled in both Newham and Melbourne, the Macedon Ranges is still at the heart of the business which includes a distillery door in the
town of Woodend. 

Run by Leighan, the distillery door not only offers guests the opportunity to sample Gindu’s seven-plus range of gins via tasting paddles, it also lists gin-based cocktails and a menu of “Bush Tapas”, cured meats and cheeses, most sourced from the local area, served on locally-made bread, a “celebration of this beautiful region that has been our home for eleven years”.

A hint when drinking Gindu gin? Forget the garnish. “We have put all the work in so that you can taste all these amazing botanicals that are so evocative of the places in Australia we love to travel to,” says Jamie. “The aroma of garnishes can be intrusive so we suggest you skip them, sit back and enjoy the journey.”

Gindu Distillery Door
0416542125
4/80 High St, Woodend
@discovergindu
gindu.com.au

Story by Michael Harden
Photos by Chris Turner