Drinks Adventures - Wine, beer, whisky, gin & more with James Atkinson

In this episode we meet Ian Schmidt and Vic Orlow, founders of South Australia’s Tin Shed Distilling, the company behind Iniquity Whisky and other brands. The original tin shed was in Adelaide’s inner west, adjacent to Ian’s other business manufacturing flagpoles, of all things. Ian has since exited the flagpole game to focus on whisky, and he and Vic have relocated their distillery to a different tin shed in the Adelaide Hills. There, they will soon be able to open their doors to the public for the very first time in the company’s history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we meet two of the founders of Queensland Rum Day, Matt Hobson of Cavu Distilling and Nil Desperandum Rum, and Duncan Littler of Bundaberg Rum. The second ever Queensland Rum Day is coming up this Saturday 2 November 2024, and this year brings with it a special collaborative rum showcasing liquid from four distilleries, two of which I’ve already mentioned – the others being Beenleigh and Kalki Moon. They’re calling themselves The Rum Consortium, and there are just 1920 bottles available of their 2024 Limited Edition Blend, which is the first ever time that stalwarts Bundaberg and Beenleigh have ever combined their spirits in the same bottle. I caught up with Matt and Duncan to find out about this historic rum release, the evolving rum industry in Queensland, and the significance of this new event that I expect we will be hearing much more about in years to come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a special episode of the show looking at the future of Australian wine, produced in partnership with Endeavour Drinks. First up, we meet Endeavour’s head of fine wine, Andrew Shedden, who sets out the challenges that the category is currently facing. In short, those of us who love wine are getting older, and we’re not buying as much as we did in the past. And younger consumers are choosing to drink beverages other than wine, which is facing tougher than ever competition from beer, spirits and premix. Andrew says it is incumbent on the wine industry to rethink its approach if it is to appeal to these younger consumers, and that means challenging the accepted conventions: everything from the liquid itself to packaging formats, labelling, branding, marketing and how we talk about wine. Also this episode I speak with a couple of producers who have done just that; Cam Marshall of Range Life Wines in Victoria, and Rod Micallef of Zonzo Estate in the Yarra Valley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We welcome back to the show Daniel Motlop of Seven Seasons Spirits, who we previously met back in May 2021. Coming up, Daniel reveals that Seven Seasons has returned to majority family ownership following the demise of his former business partner and distributor, Mighty Craft. Mighty Craft backer Pure Asset Management has emerged as Daniel’s new business partner and together they have big ambitions for the brand that has showed so much promise with its innovative products showcasing Australian native ingredients, led of course by Green Ant Gin. We get an update on the Seven Seasons whisky that was developed by Daniel in collaboration with another previous podcast guest, Mighty Craft head distiller George Campbell, who has since returned to Islay to take up the job as distillery manager at Laphroaig. Seven Seasons has also announced a new distribution agreement with Amber Beverage Australia, so first up in this episode I spoke briefly with founder and CEO Patrick Borg about the latest addition to his portfolio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices