AN ENGLISHMAN, A SCOTSMAN as well as AN AUSTRALIAN walk into A DISTILLERY…

things are stirring in the peaceful town of Corowa – tucked away on the southern border of new South Wales. The old abandoned flour mill near the banks of the Murray River is coming back to life. as well as with it comes the guarantee of gorgeous Australian whisky!

It seems like that begin of a joke, doesn’t it? however an Englishman, a Scotsman as well as an Australian truly did walk into a distillery.

Let me explain.

The Englishman was me, the Scotsman was Ian Glen – owner-distiller of stone yearn Distillery, as well as the Australian was distiller Josh walker from Timboon railway Shed Distillery.

We’d come to Corowa Distilling Company’s pre-launch celebration to satisfy with like-minded whisky lovers, fellow market types as well as regional luminaries, as well as to check out this amazing new distillery.

When I told Ian as well as Josh about the title concept for this story, they were both a bit worried.

“In those Englishman, Scotsman as well as Australian jokes, doesn’t the Scot typically police officer it?” Ian asked.

“Don’t worry,” I assured him. “It’s just a title. I don’t have a punchline. as well as it’s typically the Aussie anyway,” I added, out of Josh’s earshot.

But much more about Ian, Josh as well as the rest of my joke in a moment.

Corowa, NSW

The history behind this border town as well as its new distillery is fascinating. Corowa was verified as a settlement in 1858 as well as grew rapidly thanks to its proximity to the Murray River, an essential cargo transfer system at the time.

Only 600m from the banks of the Murray, the Corowa Flour Mills building was a keystone of the town’s success.

Eventually the river provided method to road transfer as well as the flourmill stood empty as well as quiet, as well as ultimately fell into dereliction.

The building was in a extremely unfortunate specify when Corowa Distilling Co purchased it from the regional council for the princely sum of $1.

Corowa Distillery

The concept of purchasing the old flour mill in Corowa stemmed from Dean’s household business. The Junee Licorice as well as chocolate factory near Wagga Wagga, NSW is likewise in a brought back flour mill.

And because its purchase, owner Dean Druce as well as his head distiller beloved Schilg have transformed the ruined site of the Corowa flour mill into far much more than its former glory.

But even when the old mill had ended up being the new distillery, the work was far from over. before they might offer any type of whisky, the young boys had to age whatever they distilled.

Like Australian brandy as well as rum, Australian whisky should be “stored in wood” for a minimum of 2 years. That implies whatever Corowa Distilling Co make has had to go into barrels for at least 2 years before anything else can happen.

It’s aggravating for Dean as well as Beau, however it makes for an outstanding sight for us! In the mezzanine are rows as well as rows of barrels full of maturing whisky.

Downstairs, the twin copper pot stills gleam with guarantee as well as make a gorgeous punctuation to the large dining hall as well as bar. It’s right here that myself, Ian as well as Josh sit with the rest of the celebration to celebrate the coming flow of gorgeous whisky from this singular distillery.

More than a distillery

On top of restoring this distinct piece of regional heritage, crafting their distillery as well as making whisky, Dean as well as beloved have somehow discovered time to set up a café as well as bring the Corowa chocolate factory to life on the premises.

However they handled it, the organic Belgium style chocolates (and the not rather so Belgian huge freckles they make) are exquisite.

The café provides tasty breakfast as well as lunch options, great coffee as well as even a choice of cakes. It’s great sufficient right here to bring in locals as well as tourists every morning as well as afternoon to the point where it can be a battle for a table.

Corowa Distilling Co, shop as well as café

Open: 7 days 9am-4pm

Good for: breakfast, lunch, coffee, chocolates as well as – of program – whisky!

20-24 Steel Street
Corowa NSW

Shop Corowa Distilling Co’s whisky direct from their supplier here.

The Scot – who is Ian Glen?

Ian is the owner-distiller of stone yearn Distillery in Bathurst, NSW as well as if you’re searching for the most outstanding Aussie gin as well as rum, you’ve come to the best place. He likewise makes a barrel-aged grappa that’ll make any type of Italian weep with joy.

My present preferred gin – stone Pine’s black truffle seasonal restricted edition gin – is incredible. Ian’s handled to somehow catch that powerful umami of locally sourced black truffles in the gin.

At the celebration in Corowa, he explained he had to include the truffles late on in the process as distilling them with the other botanicals just made the gin taste like mushrooms.

The late addition of the truffles provides the gin a gorgeous yellow-green glow.

Shop stone yearn gin, rum as well as black spiced rum right here direct from the supplier Nip of Courage.

The Aussie – who is Josh Walker?

The Corowa celebration was the very first time I satisfied Josh, though – happily – not the very first time I’d tasted his whisky. Head distiller at the Timboon railway Shed Distillery in Timboon, southern Victoria, Josh makes a excellent dram.

His single malt Port Expression, which you can checked out much more about here, is so extremely drinkable. however at the party, he showed us the Christie’s Cut.

This is Timboon Distillery’s premium whisky as well as is named after John Christie, the famed authorities policeman who undid the district’s last distiller Tom Delaney back in the 1890s.

The Christie’s cut is a whopper of a whisky coming out of the bottle at 60%ABV. however despite its potency, it’s still an simple drinker.

Having had a tipple or two with Josh, I get the perception the Christie’s cut is his type of drink!

Shop Timboon’s Port Expression or Christie’s cut (or both) direct from the supplier Nip of guts here.

And what about this joke?

With an opener such as this one, I couldn’t withstand having a go at completing the joke.

See what you think:

An Englishman, Scotsman as well as Australian walk into a distillery. At the door the distiller tells them they can each take one thing from the distillery.

Straight away the Englishman leaps on the gin as well as takes the lot. The Scotsman sprints for the whisky as well as declares it as his.

The Australian looks at the gleaming copper still sitting proudly above its coal-fired furnace. He strides confidently as much as the still…

And walks away with the Ashes*.

*Shame on the England cricket team for making me resort to this punchline.