Aussie distillery makes dill pickle, hot jam doughnut and oyster gin

There is one sentence that always shocks tourists visiting this distillery in a scenic Australian town.

Have you ever tried dill pickle gin? What about hot jam doughnut or oyster gin?

Those are some of the unique flavours being distilled at Apollo Bay Distillery on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria.

While not all their wacky experiments are for sale (yet), the dill pickle gin is.

It is a creation by local Shane Livesey, who calls himself a “mad scientist” and says he has the best job in the world.

Mr Livesey told news.com.au there had been five small batch runs of the dill pickle gin so far and all had sold out within about two weeks. If the batches continue to sell out, they’ll move onto bigger production.

It is quite impressive given the flavour can only be bought direct from the distillery in person.

Shane Livesey at Apollo Bay Distillery. Picture: news.com.au

The distillery is big on experimenting with unique flavours. Picture: news.com.au

Out of all the concoctions Mr Livesey has whipped up, his personal favourite is the “South of the Border” vodka, which is mango, lime and chilli.

But the hot jam doughnut gin production – made with actual doughnuts and jam – gets a notable mention for making the distillery smell the best it has ever smelt.

Mr Livesey said tourists often travel to the Apollo Bay Distillery to get their hands on the unique gins and international tourists especially tend to purchase some of the strange flavours after participating in a “Meet the Maker” tasting experience.

He is full of knowledge with a particular interest in history and while a session is almost guaranteed to leave you with some mind-blowing facts, there’s a simple sentence that seems to shock customers the most.

As Mr Livesey instructs customers to smell their first gin on their tasting paddle, he warns them not to breathe through their nose.

Yes, that’s right; smell the gin but don’t breathe through your nose.

If the dill pickle gin continues to sell well throughout its experimental phase, it will get a bigger production run. Picture: news.com.au

Instead, he recommends you put your nose over the glass and breathe through your mouth.

“If you breathe just straight through your nose, the alcohol vapour will just go up and burn your sinuses straight away,” he explained to news.com.au.

“Breathing through your mouth, you still get the air intake but what happens is you don’t get that alcohol burn in your sinuses. You just get that botanical aroma instead and really get to smell the gin by itself.”

As expected with experiments, not all the gins and vodkas made at the distillery have been palatable.

“I’ve made just terrible ones,” Mr Livesey said. “I made a rum ball vodka to try and get out for Christmas and it was dark chocolate, coconut and arrowroot biscuits.

“Just failed. Nope. No good.”

This writer was a guest of Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism