Whisky and vodka flow as Tasmanian farmers embrace spirit of sustainability
When it comes to farming, change ensures long-term survival.
That’s the case for two very different Tasmanian farms diversifying into alcohol production, particularly Lawrenny, a historic farm dating back to the 1800s.
Ross Mace has been farming beef on Lawrenny since he bought it 20 years ago, but it’s never been big enough to make a good profit.
“We just wanted to run cattle and fatten cattle, but the property isn’t really big enough to employ staff and to afford staff, so right from a very early stage we looked to diversify and four years ago the idea of whisky distilling became a possibility,” he said.
This whisky lover has embraced the concept with gusto, and is aiming to develop a closed-loop operation where every ingredient that goes into the whisky comes from the farm and every part of the distilling is done on-site.