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Our journey began in 2021 with three small stills Ron gave Robin for her birthday (although 6 months late due to covid related delays). We developed our first gins in these stills, and started our journey with Garden Street Gin Club as they chose our "Myrtle" for their May 2023 box.

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We commissioned "Nelly" named after Robin's Aunty Nelly who had recently passed away, our beautiful new 260 Litre, 4 Plate column still produced by the fabulous Gowit, of Downunder Still in QLD. Nelly arrived in September 2022, and stands proud in her new home.

 

We got to work developing our gin recipes in the bigger still, and then produced what, to us, was a monumentally huge order, both in volume and dollars. We learnt a lot whilst we developed our work practices and successfully met our deadlines, "Ron didn't get much sleep for a month, as we had to run the still 24h a day".

 

Since then, we used the money generated by Myrtle, to develop the cellar door and event space in the shearing shed. We are so proud of the work we have put in, we have given new life to a building, furniture, lights and artefacts that were all in danger of being lost, and most of which came from local abandoned farm houses. We intended to spend some of the Garden Street money on the project, little did we know it was going to take all of it, and more, but we are "all in" people. It took us, Ron mostly, 12 months of hard work utilising the old bugger's broad skills "Jack of all trades, definitely, master of none" to get us open and legal with full liquor and applicable food licences. ​

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Our location makes it impractical to be open regular hours, so we would rather simply say "call us, if we are home we are happy to open up". This philosophy has already proven popular, although the majority are from a booking made in advance, which works well for all.

 

Events are the thing we are now working on developing, we recently hosted staff dinners, Christmas functions, and have our first gin making experience booked. We even have a flying club coming into a local air strip from which we will collect them for a tasting and lunch (no booze for the pilots) ​and inquiries for a small, authentic, low-key wedding venue. Currently, we are working on accommodation options, including local and regional providers, with bus transit options if required. There is plenty of space here for onsite camping, campers and caravans, toilets open during the night, but no showers at this stage. We will work on that, and are actively working on event tent accommodation, which will be a great solution for bigger events.

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Throughout our journey we have also had a mobile gin bar which we take to local football and netball games, markets, community events and work with some fantastic partners across our region. Of course the more we do here at Mallee Spirit, the less time we will have to go on the road, so it is important we find the balance.

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To remain true to ourselves and provide an authentic experience, we can only cater for smaller numbers. We are currently licensed for 50, there will be times we do larger events, it will just take some planning and flexibility in event spaces, like utilising implement sheds or dining under the stars which is not a bad thing but of course weather can play its part.

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That's our journey up until 2nd January 2025, if you're interested in events, either attending one planned by us, or perhaps have your own thoughts please get in touch we are happy to see what we can do together.