STORY BY MICHAEL HARDEN, PHOTOS BY CHRIS TURNER

The gin rush gripping Australia shows no sign of abating. Five years ago there were about 10 distilleries making gin in Australia; now there are well over 100. One of the latest to throw its juniper-fragrant hat into the ring is Hepburn Springs Distilling Co., an ode to the joys of gin and the purity of the local spring water from recent Hepburn Springs locals Brett Luckman and Rebekah Murphy.

Brett and Rebekah had been long-time visitors to Daylesford and Hepburn Springs since meeting 15 years ago. On one of their visits three years ago, browsing the window of a real estate agent, they said to each other: we could actually live here. Six months later, they bought a house and moved to Hepburn Springs. That life-changing decision also led to the birth of their gin project.

“We both have a passion for gin and I’d been experimenting with distilling for a while,” says Brett, who works as an accountant in his other life. “Going commercial with it was something I’d always wanted to do but I looked around and saw that there were more and more craft distillers than ever before and I thought: well maybe that ship has sailed.

“But I realised that while I had my favourite gins, I always liked to try the new gins too. People like choice and so we decided, rather than wake up one day and regret not doing it, we should go ahead and try it.”

One of the factors that pushed Rebekah and Brett into launching Hepburn Springs Distilling Co. was identifying a distinct point of difference, something that would make their gin stand out by reflecting a sense of the region.

“When we thought about making gin, we immediately recognised that water – which makes up more than half of a bottle of gin – would be a key component for us,” says Rebekah, whose background is in marketing. “Some of the very best natural spring water in the world comes from this region, from just around the corner from where we live really, and we wanted to highlight that as central to the story and the flavour of our gin.”

The natural springs in Hepburn Springs were identified as something pretty special early on with a law enacted to protect them from mining back in 1865. But it’s not just a good story. Brett believes that the purity of the spring water “brings a certain something, a clarity to our gin that could come from nowhere else”.

Brett wanted to put a further local twist on a classic London Dry style of gin. To give it a unique and distinctive flavour profile, he included native botanicals like quandong, mountain pepper berry and finger lime to the more traditional juniper, coriander and citrus mix but, in a further nod to the region, he also added some lavender notes, sourcing the lavender from local producer Lavandula.

Given that their favourite way to drink gin is with tonic (they suggest a blood orange garnish), it’s not surprising that they tested most of the growing number of tonic brands on the market. And their favourite?

“Funnily enough, the one that works beautifully with our gin is local too – from the Daylesford and Hepburn Mineral Springs Co.,” says Rebekah. “Along with how quickly the gin came together, how easy and natural the process was to get the gin we wanted, it seemed fitting that we liked that tonic best. I think when something falls into place like that, it feels like it was meant to be.”

Hepburn Springs Distilling Co.

0466 465 467

info@hepburnspringsdc.com.au

www.hepburnspringsgin.com.au