Reef Distillers opens micro gin distillery on Capricorn Coast

Inspired by the local botanicals of the Southern Great Barrier, the launch range includes two vodkas and two gins. Check it out.

A new artisan distiller launched on the Capricorn Coast is infusing local fruity botanicals in its spirits, inspired by the beautiful Southern Great Barrier Reef.

Reef Distillers is a partnership between Laureth and Wayne Rumble, who enlisted their South African distillery owner friends Shane and Zona Smith.

The Rumbles are the owners of Pumpkin Island off Yeppoon and formerly had Elysian Resort in the Whitsundays before selling it last year.

Pumpkin Island owners Laureth and Wayne Rumble with daughters Indy and Haven. File photo from 2017.

As Covid-19 restrictions hit their industry hard, Laureth explained she came up with the distillery idea in lockdown as a way to diversify.

“A lot of business avenues got shut down quite easily,” she said.

“I had known Shane and Zona for a very long time, we just thought it would be such an amazing adventure to open an artisan distillery together, it’s something they have already done and lots of awards for with the spirits they have made in the past.

“We were just looking for new opportunities.”

Although the couple were initially shocked by the proposal to open a distillery in Australia, when they decided it seemed possible they put the wheels in motion.

The idea became quite serious towards the end of the 2021 and then they ordered equipment, filled out hundreds of pages of paperwork and visas.

Then by February, the Smith family arrived in Australia and distiller Shane hit the ground running.

“From touchdown we just started, let’s get inspired by the botanicals around here, what can we do,” he said.

“That was a factor I couldn’t do much about as a distiller until I got here, until you’ve got them in hand and you’re tasting and testing lots of different products.”

Their goal has been to be as “farm to bottle” as possible.

“We gather our inspiration from where we live, our products, our designs, oriented around the ocean and the reef,” Shane said.

“Using as much as we can local products in our flavourings, trying to go as much from farm to bottle as we can and trying to find ways to be unique at every turn we can.”

They secured a shed at the 11th hour on Pineapple Drive in Hidden Valley and began distilling.

“It was just a matter of taking all the ideas, all the concepts, putting them together, throwing them into the test stool, refining and trying to get better and better with each batch,” Shane said.

The Great Barrier Reef Dry Gin and Capricorn Rosella Vodka by Reef Distillers.

The launch range includes two vodkas and two gins, Great Barrier Dry Gin, Coral Sea Gin, Pacific Ocean Vodka and Capricorn Rosella Vodka, with more products in the works.

“We’ve already got a few in the line-up for a launch before Christmas and launch for summer,” Laureth said.

A canning machine is also on order and they plan to launch a ready-to-drink range.

“The first one we are looking at is very exciting, I think it’s very unique and different to anything we have seen in Australia,” Shane said.

Sample sizes of the Reef Distillers launch range, which can also be used for resorts and hotel for mini bars and in rooms.

Capricorn Coast has had a surge in micro beverage business, with Yepp Brewing Co, a brewery that opened in November 2021 just up the road.

Another nanobrewery, Crimson Finch, is also in the midst of preparing to open from a shop on the Yeppoon foreshore.

Capricorn Enterprise CEO Mary Carroll said the new businesses will help put Yeppoon on the map.

“Reef Distillers will join the Taste Capricorn Coast initiative, which brings together our colourful array of producers, eateries, retail outlets, markets and farm experiences, and Capricorn Enterprise looks forward to supporting the Smith and Rumble family with their endeavours,” she said.