Founded in 1957 as a milk cooperative in the remote northwest corner of the island, Hellyers Road was created by local dairy farmers to bottle and distribute milk. It ran as such for decades. Then, in the mid1990s—well before Australia had established a reputation for whisky—the cooperative made a bold, imaginative leap: to try their hand at single malt whisky production. “In 1997, they decided to build a whisky distillery,” Charge explains.“At the time, there was no such thing as an Australian whisky industry.There were a couple of other whisky brands operating, but nothing like the number we have today. Its decision was pioneering, audacious—and transformative. The cooperative built what would become the largest whisky distillery in Australia for the next two decades. It remains the oldest operating whisky distillery in the country. In 2019, Hellyers Road completely exited the milk business, becoming a dedicated single malt whisky company driven by craft, provenance, and ambition. “They were looking for opportunities to diversify,” Charge says. “They thought, ‘We already know how to deal with liquids, we know how to put things in bottles.’ They considered water and fruit juice… but once they latched onto the idea of producing whisky, there was no turning back.” What began as an act of rural ingenuity has since evolved into a premium, internationally recognized whisky brand. Even more impressively, the business has retained its roots: second, third, and even fourthgeneration descendants of the original dairy farmers still control 85% of the company. A NATURAL WHISKY HAVEN If the story of its founding wasn’t unique enough, Hellyers Road also benefits from a strikingly distinctive location. “Tasmania is about the same size as Scotland, and we sit right on the windward edge of the Southern Ocean,” Charge explains. “Westward, it is about 20,000 kilometers to the nearest land – Patagonia. That vast expanse of the world’s wildest ocean means we are bathed – and buffeted - by air that has been measured time and time again as the cleanest in the world.” This environmental purity isn’t just poetic—it’s practical. The island’s climate is cool, stable, and maritime, with temperatures rarely dipping below zero or exceeding 25°C. For whisky maturation, this means gentle aging without dramatic temperature 51 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 07, ISSUE 04 HELLYERS ROAD DISTILLERY
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