What is whisky without those who bring us together and challenge us.  Today we celebrate two people who have done both of these and so much more.  Thank you Craig and Nicholas your input to our journey has been invaluable. While we have endeavoured  to include photos of those we are recognising, we haven’t for Nicholas as he is currently working overseas and we are hoping he stays safe in these turbulent times.

Craig Daniels

Craig recognises ‘things’ before their time and has been at the forefront of malt whisky appreciation in Australia.

As a craft brewery metamorphosing into a fledgling single malt whisky distillery, who else would you turn to for advice and quality control? As a multiple Australian Malt Whisky Tasting Championship winner, who better to help work your way through your first releases?

It was Craig, who spotted that our “River’s End” bottling was going to create ripples…  and it did… all the way to Gold Medal, Best of Category, and trophy for Champion International Whisky at the 2018 American Distilling Institute Awards.

Craig Daniels, this barrel is named after you to recognise all you have done in encouraging us as distillers.

Craig’s passion for whisky and developing conversation around it has led to a thriving community within Adelaide and across the nation.  His  history and influence on the whisky scene in Australia is far too long to be listed here, but in this barrel we recognise his contribution to our success as a regional South Australian distillery.  Sliante

Nicholas Yui

By our estimation Nick has a photographic record of pretty much our entire production process. And there’s not a lot of people you would allow to do that…

Nick is not loud, rambunctious and ego driven. He’s quiet, reflective, observant, and specific… and challenging. A visit from Nicholas is a time to stop and listen.

For us, Nick has a ‘front-up’ palate, nosing an array of subtleties, where Gareth definitely has a ‘back-driven’ palate, taste, mouthfeel, retro-nasal. The conversation volleys between them on what could be found in a variety of drams was a game, set and match that a whisky Wimbledon would be proud of! A visit from Nick for us is a sheer delight.

Nick would also bring us malts from all over the world for us to assess and compare. A visit from Nick was a lesson, nay, dare we say a masterclass.  It lead to reflection on incremental change to improve in a measured way.

Nicholas, while your work takes you far away, for you our doors are always open.

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