Adelaide Hills Distillery 2020 Native Grain Weeping Grass Whiskey wins World’s Best Whiskey award

A new era of Australian whiskey is upon us and Sacha La Forgia is leading the way, one barrel (and native grain) at a time.

Adelaide Hills Distillery founder Sacha la Forgia is on a mission to redefine the identity of whiskey in Australia. He just got one step closer, after winning two major awards in the World Whiskies Awards, including the gong for World’s Best Whiskey.

It is the first time a whiskey made using Australian native grains has been recognised on the world stage.

Just one barrel (150 bottles) of the victorious Adelaide Hills Distillery 2020 Native Grain Weeping Grass Whiskey was made. At $450 a bottle it’s not cheap but that’s the price of small batch history in the making.

Adelaide Hills Distillery’s Native Grain Whiskey.

Weeping grass has grown in native in Australia for thousands of years. The plump grain from the East Coast costs $160 a kilo and when you factor in barrel ageing for two years (in an ex-cabernet franc oak barrel from Howard Vineyard) it’s a costly process.

“Which is a big part of why no-one is making it,” Mr la Forgia says. “Not many people are farming or harvesting weeping grass either.”

The World Whiskies Awards, hosted annually by Whisky Magazine in London, are the premier global awards for the whisky industry. La Forgia and his small team also won a gold medal in the Blended Malt Category for the yet to be released 78 Degrees Australian Whiskey.

The recognition is a big deal for la Forgia, who is highly respected for his craft and his character and isn’t afraid to push boundaries.

Adelaide Hills Distillery's Sacha La Forgia with his award winning Native Grain Whiskey. Picture: Ben Macmahon

“This is huge recognition for the whole team who have created the world’s best whiskey,” he said. “It is the only whiskey ever made from native Australian grains and it shows the world that Australia is a force to be reckoned with. We have some of the best flavours in the world.”

His intentions are as heartfelt as it gets.

“Whiskey is distilled beer, beer is made from barley malt and barley is from Europe,” he says. “When we made whiskey back in 2015, I decided I didn’t want to make European whiskey in Australia. The whole idea was to make Australian whiskey in Australia and call it Australian whiskey.”

Sacha’s first attempt was last year’s release; the Adelaide Hills Distillery’s Native Grain Whiskey, which used Australian wattleseed as its base grain.

“The special malt adds a different flavour,” he says. “It’s that first step. Hopefully in another 15 years, it will all be made out of this.”

It’s not as simple as banging Australian grains in a batch. Far from it. Years of research went into the whiskey. Sacha says Bruce Pascoe’s Dark Emu is essential reading.

The nonfiction book examines colonial accounts of Aboriginal people in Australia. It also delves into evidence of pre-colonial agriculture, engineering and building construction by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

“There used to be a grain belt through the middle of the country and a lot of that was wattleseed which we used in last year’s whiskey,” he says. “In the Northern Territory they found a stone mill that was 35,000 years old.” The discovery indicates that Aboriginal people were farming grain and milling flour at least 35,000 years ago.

“Wattleseed isn’t a cereal grain so by the letter of the law it is not technically whiskey,” he says. So a small number of people tried to take us to court.”

The 2020 release of Native Grain Whiskey was made using weeping grass “It is a cereal grain so now it’s 100 per cent legally whiskey.” Picture: Ben Macmahon

There was no such problem with his latest creation. The 2020 release of Native Grain Whiskey was made using weeping grass “It is a cereal grain so now it’s 100 per cent legally whiskey.”

Sustainability is always front of mind.

“Barley requires a lot of input. You sew it, harvest it, get rid of it and then re-sow the next crop. Weeping grass is perennial so if you have a field full of weeping grass you can harvest seed off it three times a year – the plant stays, it just keeps growing back so it’s way more sustainable and better for the environment.”

Both native grain whiskeys won Best Australian Grain Whiskey Under 12 Years at the World Whiskey Awards and the wattleseed got the nod from whiskey writer Jim Murray (the James Halliday of the whiskey world).

“We’ll have more volume next year and the year after,” Mr la Forgia says. “This will always be our icon whiskey. There are two worlds in whiskey in Australia now … the old stuffy people and the young innovative people. This is the future.”

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From little things, big things grow -about the distiller

When Sacha founded Adelaide Hills Distillery in 2014, he was on a mission to change the way we make, drink and think about spirits made on home turf.

Sacha (a qualified winemaker) kickstarted his journey as a youngster making backyard beer, cider, wine and spirits with his Dad. Next, he worked for Wirra Wirra before jetting off to work a multitude of vintages across the globe. While abroad he spent time in Friuli, Italy where he made grappa with his mentor Bruno.

Upon his return (under Bruno’s wise guidance) Sacha made his own still out of recycled materials, set up a distillery and fixed his gaze on gin. His aspirations were high. He wanted to produce the best gin in the world. He did just that, winning the Best International Gin at the ADI Awards in 2017 with his original release 78 Degrees.

The handmade still is long gone (he is now based at Adelaide Hills beverage collective Lot. 100) but Sacha has been kicking booze goals since, producing special release gins (made using curious ingredients like green ants and lemon myrtle) and a range of vermouths (incorporating herbs, flowers and native ingredients). His efforts landed him a spot in the Young Gun of Wine Awards’ Top 12 emerging winemakers in the nation. In February 2020, he was named Distiller of the Year at the Icons of Gin Awards, held in London.