North of Eden gin distillery has decided to re-open its cellar doors on the weekend of All Hallows Eve to welcome people back after a few months break and introduce them to the newest addition in the collection.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Owners Karen Touchie and Gavin Hughes said they made the most of the cellar doors being closed to get a few jobs done.
These included cleaning and maintaining the farm, and distilling and launching the newest gin addition to the North of Eden collection, dubbed 'The Oyster Shell Gin'.
The bespoke gin was initially tailored for sailors of the HMAS Supply, in July 2021 and was re-released a few months later as the Oyster Shell Gin on October 1.
"We've just launched our Oyster Shell Gin, which is pretty much the Sapphire Coast in a bottle," Ms Touchie said.
Ms Touchie said they used oyster shells harvested from several local oyster farmers spread out across the Bega Valley for their newest gin.
Head distiller Gavin Hughes said the Oyster Shell Gin was built on generous foundations of juniper and coriander.
"This gin gets its lift from lemons, limes and cumquats we grow here on the farm and its depth and mouth feel from local oyster shells and saltbush," he said.
The Oyster Shell Gin is already attracting attention, winning a prestigious international spirits award in July 2021.
"It's already won an award at the International Wine and Spirits competition in London, which is the largest gin competition in the world," Mr Hughes said.
"It picked up a bronze medal there, so we're stoked about that," he added.
The gin was also hand picked by Australian gin writer and judge Caroline Ashford, who gave praise to North of Eden's latest gin on her Instagram account theginqueenau, for being "beautifully balanced".
Mr Hughes said they were tickled pink by the shout out from Ms Ashford.
"We got a re-endorsement from one of the gin influencers, who just absolutely loves our Oyster Shell Gin," Mr Hughes said.
Cellar doors open at a small capacity
Ms Touchie said in accordance with NSW Health COVID-19 orders, the one person per four square metres rule limits the number of people they can have in their small venue.
"It limits us in terms of the number of people that we can have inside at the moment. But we're pretty lucky in the sense that virtually all of our seating is outdoors anyway," Ms Touchie said.
Ms Touchie said they were also slightly nervous about opening to vaccinated only persons as they would like to welcome everybody back.
"Of course, with the current health orders, we can only have fully vaccinated people and we've had to have all of our staff fully vaccinated," she said.
"We want to be open to everybody, but you can only do what the health order allow us to do."
Prior to recent COVID-19 lockdowns in the Bega Valley, the distillery used to host visitors that would bring their own picnic blankets and baskets, eating out on the distillery grounds and admiring the view.
"We're very excited to have people out here again, enjoying our little piece of paradise and enjoying our quality gin," Mr Hughes said.
Ms Touchie said they were also looking forward to letting people sample their latest gin in the new cocktail list they've released.
"We've got some new cocktails on the menu and there's a couple of ones that are exclusively on the new gin which makes an absolutely cracking martini," Ms Touchie said.
The cellar door opening hours are still set for weekends only, however the times have changed to suit daylight savings and the distillery is open from 1-6pm.
"The only thing we need now is blue skies so people can come out and enjoy their picnics and some cocktails," Ms Touchie said.
READ ALSO: