How Australia’s first ever agave spirit is made in the Whitsundays

It’s only a two-person job, but they are creating an Australian first. Here’s a behind the scenes look at the country’s first agave distillery. WATCH THE STEP BY STEP PROCESS

Entering the distillery at the Eden Lassie farm, it might appear a little like a side hustle with legs from an enthusiastic dad keen to start making his own brew.

But the reality is quite the opposite.

The small operation in the Whitsundays houses an Australian first, and one already recognised worldwide.

This was a long time in the making for Dean Leslie, 34, who wanted to craft Australia’s first agave spirit - which resembles tequila, but that name can only be attached productions from its traditional homeland, Mexico.

Moving to between Airlie Beach and Bowen, where the farm and distillery are located, was the perfect opportunity for the Victorian man who was eager to escape the cold and live by his mantra “good food, good drinks and good people” in tropical paradise.

Top Shelf International says the Eden Lassie farm has the size capable of supporting a premium Australian agave spirit category and brand on an international scale. The size of the farm and production capacity will place TSI in the top 25 of the world's agave spirit/tequila producers. It has the potential to be a $100m -predominantly export - annual business. Picture: Contributed

“I’ve been a distiller for many many years,” he said.

“When I was very young I was making beers with my father and I suppose most people just have family dinners and whatnot, but we were making alcohol as a family bonding activity.

“I built upon that passion and hobby throughout the years, had a great opportunity to take it professionally, a lot more seriously and built up my repertoire.”

TopShelf International Agave Chief Distiller Dean Leslie has opened the doors of Australia's first agave spirit distillery. Picture: Estelle Sanchez

While a full team of distillers from Victoria provided “great guidance” to develop the recipe in the months leading up to the spirit being offered to the public, the day-to-day production is handled only by two people: Mr Leslie and his production and facility manager Guy Chojnacki.

The pair are hands on from harvesting the agave plant, taking it to the factory to the bottling and packaging process.

And it appears to be a winning combination.

Operating as Top Shelf International, their first agave spirit called ‘Act of Treason’ has already been named World’s Best Speciality Spirit at the World Drinks Award only months after it was released commercially.

TopShelf International Agave Chief Distiller Dean Leslie has opened the doors of Australia's first agave spirit distillery. Picture: Estelle Sanchez

What does the day-to-day look like?

The day to day crafting of the agave spirit remains a bit of a mystery but involved “a lot of cleaning” and a fair amount of quality testing.

“It’s not like sitting around all day and drinking, even though there is some kind of truth to that,” Mr Leslie explained.

“We’re tasting a lot, we’re analysing a lot, a day to day would involve a lot of prep work, making sure all our equipment is on point, and ensuring that the process is running as smoothly as possible.”

The exciting part about a job like this, he said, was the potential to develop new products and new tastes every day.

Mr Leslie said there was a level of freedom that came with not being able to call the product ‘tequila’.

“We’d be keeping it traditional to the certain kind of core ranges of what agave spirit is, but also challenging and innovating new types of style on the way,” he said.

“It’s more than just a product for me, I get a bit more philosophical, because I love what it does, it brings people together.”

The production process

Although some details are kept secret, like the types of yeasts used to make the ‘Act of Treason’ agave spirit, we were given a proper step-

by-step process of how to craft the spirit. HAVE A LOOK.

How do you drink the Australian version of tequila?

While Mexican tequila is associated with well known latin drinking sayings and fevered bachata, and is inherent to the country’s culture, we can wonder how is the Aussie version will be consumed?

We put the question to the product’s distiller and this is what he said:

“A standardised kind of cheers is pretty universal, I don’t know if there’s an Australian way for that, unless you were to go down the road of say a shoey,” he said.

When asked if he would ever put his tequila in a shoe, Mr Leslie said, it was “still pretty delicious” that way.

Originally published as How Australia’s first ever agave spirit is made in the Whitsundays