Tucked away in the picturesque Macedon Ranges, Big Tree Distillery was founded in 2018 by gin-loving husband-and-wife duo Catherine Crothers and Gary Jago. Gin has been experiencing a worldwide boom lately, although some publications are predicting its imminent bust. Still, if the success of Big Tree is anything to go by, the gin industry isn't going anywhere fast.
Some of Big Tree's gins are made using botanicals grown on its farm, foraged from local neighbours or, when needed, sourced by the team's botanist. Some botanicals only grow in the tropics and can't be grown locally, but some of the botanicals currently grown on the farm include juniper berries, southern sassafras and sloe berries.
These high-quality local ingredients are then placed into a 300-litre copper still (lovingly named Beryl) and combined with fresh rainwater collected from the distillery's roof. Once Beryl has completed her end of the deal, the gin is poured into beautiful bottles labelled with artwork painted by local artist Sarah Gabriel and Melbourne botanical artist David Reynolds.
Despite only having five years under its belt, Big Tree has already received accolades from many international gin and spirit awards. In 2020, its Elegant Dry Gin was named the Best Australian Classic Gin, and in 2019, its Cumquat Seasonal Double-Distilled Gin won silver at the 2019 Australian Distilled Spirits Awards.
But perhaps most impressive is its Claude Navy Strength Gin, which has won double gold at the 2019 San Francisco World Spirits Awards, silver at the 2019 Australian Distilled Spirits Awards, silver at the 2019 Tasting Australia Spirits Awards and bronze gin at the 2019 Australian Gin Awards.
If you're keen to taste these award-winning drops for yourself, you can swing by the Big Tree Distillery Door and visit the tasting room from 10am–3pm on Mondays and 11am–4pm on weekends. Big Tree also does the Victorian farmers' market circuit; you can find the schedule here.
