PILLARS OF STRENGTH

Four Pillars has been distilling gin in Healesville, Victoria, since 2013. Now almost a decade on it is unveiling its biggest expansion yet. “When we started, we had one still at the back of a mate’s winery,” says founder and distiller Cameron Mackenzie. Soon after, it opened the doors to the original distillery in 2015. “We thought that would do us. But it didn’t take long before we had queues out the door most weekends and had clearly outgrown that space,” says Mackenzie. Set to open in mid-March, directly adjacent to its original home, Four Pillars 2.0 will house a new production space, gin garden, dedicated gin shop and tuckshop serving delicious snacks. Four Pillars’ creative director Matt Wilkinson and Caroline Gray are in charge of the food, which will pluck inspiration from the ingredients and by-products of the distilling process. “Caroline Gray has always made our marmalade, which is a fantastic by-product of distillation,” says Mackenzie. Expect ginny snacks, be it Olive Leaf gin-cured salmon-filled bagels; duck liver pâté with Bloody Shiraz gin jelly; or Four Pillars Chardonnay barrelwash rind, served alongside cheeses from the surrounding Yarra Valley. All this will make Four Pillars the largest gin-focused distillery in the country and will also create room for more innovation, for which Four Pillars has become synonymous. Take its ever-popular Bloody Shiraz gin, or the recent Olive Leaf gin and expect more of these modern takes on the spirit. “Thanks to our Bloody Shiraz gin, we now crush more Yarra Valley shiraz than any winery in the Yarra Valley,” says Mackenzie. “We’re the leopard that changed its spots, in an industry that didn’t innovate for a long time.” 2 Lilydale Rd, Healesville, Vic, fourpillarsgin.com