Healesville’s Four Pillars gin a global hit, dubbed ‘world’s best’

Three mates have turned a “Breaking Bad-style” Healesville gin company into a global hit, with bars and bottle shops on a waiting list to get their hands on the spirit. And it’s so popular, a global brewing giant is set to take a massive stake.

Three mates have turned a Healesville-based “Breaking Bad-style” gin company into a global hit.

Bars and bottle shops have to go on a waiting list to get their hands on Four Pillars gin, which has been repeatedly dubbed the world’s best at competitions across the globe.

Next year, the Healesville distillery will double in size to try to meet the growing demand, with the 59,000 litres it produces this year not going to cut it.

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And now brewing giant Lion is taking a 50 per cent share in the company.

Co-owner and manger Cameron Mackenzie said interest in Four Pillars gin had been “chaos” right from when the trial batch was released online in December 2013.

Cameron Mackenzie is a former winemaker turned gin maker extraordinaire. Picture: Mark Dadswell

In less than 72 hours, more than 400 bottles were snapped up and a waiting list of customers had flooded in.

“My little part time gin job became nine days a week straight away,” Mr Mackenzie said.

“And that momentum has never changed in five and a half years.”

The former winemaker has put Four Pillars’ success down to its unique flavours, which was the aim behind his and “great mates” Stuart Gregor and Matt Jones’ venture into the industry.

“But I also think the world has been starved of Australian spirits,” he said.

Inside the Four Pillars distillery, which will double in size next year. Picture: Mark Dadswell

Mr MacKenzie said Four Pillars was a step away from “the normal style of London dry gin”, which was dominantly infused with juniper berries.

Four Pillars gin instead features a mix of Australasia’s “incredible” botanicals, such as Australia’s lemon myrtle and Tasmanian mountain pepper.

And the three gin lovers have put a lot of time into combining the plants to produce the interesting flavours.

When they first started making the spirit they spent 18 months out the back of a Warrandyte winery trialling 96 botanicals to finetune the perfect blend that ferments their Rare Dry Gin.

“We probably did close to 1000 small distillations on a little glass sort of Breaking Bad still before we actually narrowed it down to the 10 ingredients in that gin,” Mr Mackenzie said.

The gins use a mix of botanicals which give unique flavours. Picture: Mark Dadswell

It was Four Pillars’ first gin, and while the men have released a series of gins, featuring South-East Asian and middle-eastern tastes, the Rare Dry Gin still makes up 85 per cent of business.

It has been awarded double gold titles in the US three times, as well as gold in London and Hong Kong.

Mr Mackenzie said high quality ingredients and methods were also key to the company’s success.

“Even in our growth, we’ve never changed the way we make our gin.”

He said the business was all about complete transparency with its production.

“There’s no secret herbs and spices here,” Mr Mackenzie said.

Customers at their Lilydale Rd distillery can watch the team making the spirit and learn about the base ingredients.

The three distillers moved into the production space on Lilydale Rd and opened the accompanying bar almost four years ago.

They’ve just bought the property next door and plan on doubling the business’ entertaining space as well as the factory next year.

The distillery is on Lilydale Rd and attracts a steady stream of customers. Picture: Mark Dadswell

Mr Mackenzie said the business had been blown away by patronage at the venue, with locals and tourists enjoying drinks and tastings “morning, noon and night” seven days a week.

Customers have to queue at the door to grab their afternoon drinks on weekends.

He said the company was grateful the Yarra Valley had embraced Four Pillars right from the get-go, with the rest of the country quickly getting on board supporting the label.

While Four Pillars is gaining momentum overseas, it is still very much a domestic business, with 80 per cent of the demand coming from Australian bars and suppliers.

National liquor supplier Dan Murphy’s is a Four Pillars stockist.

And Four Pillars is doing its bit to give back to Healesville, making an effort to reduce its environmental footprint and collaborating with local businesses at the same time.

On top of using solar power and a recycled water system, the team has been coming up with ways to make use of the botanicals after they’re used by the factory.

Customers often have to queue at the door to get afternoon drinks on the weekends. Picture: Mark Dadswell

Healesville business A Bit of Jam and Pickle takes Four Pillars’ steamed oranges to make marmalade, a Yarra Valley dairy company uses leftover liquid from the machines to create an aromatic cheese and Melbourne cacao business Hunted and Gathered use some of the botanicals in their dark chocolate.

But most of the steamed plants are fed to pigs at Yarra Valley Birkshire to produce a special tasting Gin Pig.

The uniquely-flavoured pork has been used for ‘Gin Pig Dinners’ across Australia, with the next taking place in St Kilda’s Stokehouse in May.

Mr Mackenzie said they were working on getting the gin pig on the market, and plenty of ideas for new products were in the works.

It’s full steam ahead for Four Pillars.