Australian gin brand Four Pillars recently launched a revamped and expanded distillery in its hometown of Healesville in the Yarra Valley, complete with a new bar, a gin garden, and more hospitality experiences to come. The new space more than doubles the business’ footprint and was constructed using recycled and upcycled materials. Over the course of the next year, it’s estimated up to 200,000 people will visit the updated distillery, according to co-founder and brand director Matt Jone
ones.
“It’s a massive opportunity to engage and excite people, not just about Four Pillars, but the whole Australian gin movement,” Jones told Inside Retail.
“As a brand built on the craft of distilling gin, we’ve always wanted to offer our customers an up-close-and-personal experience of our craft as they taste and drink our gin.
“Pretty soon after opening our doors [in 2015], we knew we would need more space, for everything from production to hospitality, but it’s taken us until this year to be able to open this new space.”
Surrounded by a cooper ‘veil’ which both acts as a heat exchange and a frontage, the new space sits across the road from Four Pillars’ original distillery, and features a dedicated bar and garden area which can hold up to 300 people at a time and will offer food designed by chefs Matt Wilkinson and Caro Gray.
Four Pillars’ Healesville distillery. Credit: Anson Smart.
Wilkinson and Gray are the minds behind the business’ Made from Gin range, where Four Pillars uses its core gin product and the leftover ingredients used in its creation in food manufacturing.
Jones said that the business wasn’t expecting the original distillery to turn into a gin and food destination, and by increasing the experiential side of this new location, they can now better serve the customers that travel to meet them.
“I think we’d be lying to say we knew how popular our distillery would be,” Jones said.
“What we’ve been able to do now with Healesville 2.0 is add some beautiful new spaces and gardens, put together a delicious gin-fuelled menu of substantial snacks to go with our drinks, and create more room for masterclasses and maker sessions.”
Beth’s Bar. Credit: Anson Smart.
The most important part of the site is the distillery, however. The business’ four current stills will remain at Four Pillar’s original site across the road, while a new 2000 litre still will be installed in the new space later this year: an act that will allow the business to create up to one million bottles of gin a year.
“Making the best gin in the world and sharing that gin with people through a world-class hospitality experience [remains] where we’re heading as a business,” Jones said.
“Gin is fun. It’s this wonderful spirit that needs to be based on a canvas of juniper, but beyond that, it can go in so many different directions… and I think that’s driving the gin boom. And lucky for us, Australia is probably the best place on earth to fully explore the potential of gin.”
