High spirits

Boutique distilleries continue to trend in Melbourne and its surrounds. As an extension to this, Melbourne is now seeing new bars opening that specialise in spirit sampling, offering tasting innovations such as whisky and meat pairings.

Bad Frankie - is named after the infamous Governor of Van Diemen’s Land, John Franklin, who outlawed small pot stills in the early 19th Century. Based just off Smith Street in Melbourne’s inner city Fitzroy, this bar launched less than a year ago to specialise in Victorian and Australian spirits that are created using home grown Australian botanicals. Tasting flights of more than 150 Victorian whiskies and gins are on offer, along with cocktails and a menu of jaffles (Australian toasted sandwich combinations).

Boilermaker House – is a new bar in Melbourne that specialises in mating the traditional beer-and-whisky-shot combination . Boilermaker House is dedicated to its namesake, with more than 700 whiskeys available to pair with 50 beers, including 12 rotating craft beer taps. The bar will have a blues vibe, complete with a four metre long marble bar featuring 25 cured meats and 30 cheeses to try, with pairing recommendations to accompany different spirits.

New World Whisky Distillery - is located in an old airport hangar in Essendon in Melbourne’s Western suburbs, this distillery’s Starward Whisky is developed using Australian barley and barrels but integrating maturation techniques from around the world, that along with the Victorian climate creates a distinctly Melbourne flavour. The New World Whisky Distillery also conducts a range of whisky master classes, dinners and open days at their workshop each month.

Four Pillars Gin – is a small distillery located on the outskirts of Melbourne in the Yarra Valley that produces its well-received gin in small batches of just 420 bottles. Stocked in some of Melbourne’s top bars, the gin is renowned for using native Australian botanicals alongside international counterparts. Each bottle is individually numbered and hand labelled. The distillery will hold regular open days from its new distillery in Healesville, opening mid 2015.

Gin Palace – is an old favourite Melbourne haunt, named after an 1880s institution of a more dubious nature, The Gin Palace is tucked away in a Melbourne city laneway and specialises in gins from Australia and around the world. Certainly the go to place for a gin martini and also offers martini master classes by appointment.