Spotlighting Sustainable Spirits

With its rich soils, ripe for nurturing golden crops of wheat and barley, the Great Southern is an obvious choice for devotees to world-class distilling. Nestled among the scenic ranges and vast wineries, a number of distillers have opted to put down roots in the region, and many of these local producers have decided that a good glass of whiskey or nip of gin shouldn’t cost the earth.

From renewable energy sources to waste-free processes and local sourcing, distilleries in the Great Southern are proving their sustainability credentials, and even leading the way in sustainable innovations. In the Great Southern, you can be assured of drinking responsibly in every sense.

Housed on the vast acreage of Raintree farm, hemp spirits producer Cannabis Botanical Distillery is leading the way in sustainable spirts. From more than eight acres of cannabis sativa (hemp) sustainably grown and nurtured on the family farm each year, the distillery creates its signature cannabis-based beverages, which include sativa vodka and gin alongside canned seltzers and ginger beer.

With sustainable farming practices in place across Raintree’s operations, it made sense that the distillery would embrace a similar ethos. Unlike other cannabis beverage producers, the venue makes use of the whole hemp plant in its distilling processes with its signature ‘paddock-to-planet’ approach, something that was important from the outset to founders Matt and Chelsea Beaton.

“Regenerative farming practices with a zero-waste approach is something we pride ourselves on. Because just about everything in the process is done on our family farm, we have better control of the ingredients, so our customers can have greater confidence in what they drink,” explain the duo.

“With children of our own, and the deep appreciation we have for Denmark (Koorabup) and the Great Southern, we recognise as business owners we have an opportunity to set an example for how we can create, innovate and remain sustainable at the same time. We want to work with nature to create unique and exciting beverages that work towards a sustainable planet for the future generation of regional kids.”

Surrounded by the 1.1-billion-year-old Porongurup Range, and with immeasurable expanses of ancient native trees on its doorstep, the team at Woodlands Distillery gets a daily reminder of the importance of practising sustainability. While they didn’t set out to be sustainable, notes distiller Pete Waters, it quickly proved to be the more practical and economical option, and the distillery team is now on a long-term mission to improve its sustainability credentials.

While the distillery, which has its home in a repurposed shearing shed, has been operating for less than five years, it’s already made a name for itself in sustainable spirits. The approach, says Pete, is a simple one.

“If it’s grown locally, we try to incorporate it in our recipes, so for our gin bases one of our directors Tony Slattery grows white wheat, and another, Kelvin Ridgway, grows the red wheat that is used to make our wheat whisky. Then the wheat is mashed, fermented and distilled on the property, and all of the by-products are used back on the farm with spent mash fed to the cows and then the wastewater is used on the paddocks as fertiliser.”

This approach allows the team to keep by-products on the property, a cost-efficient method which also increases available reusable resources. Alongside gin and whiskey, Woodlands also distils vodka and brandy. Key botanicals used in its spirts are sources locally, including lemon myrtle, cinnamon myrtle, finger lime, bloodroot and Vietnamese mint with some grown on the property.

“There are certain botanicals we have to bring in from overseas, like juniper berries, but we have some juniper bushes planted on the property now to see how they’ll go in the climate. This is more of a long-term project though, as the bushes take a long time to bear fruit.”