If drinking beer all arvo isn’t your jam, there’s a new type of crawl on offer in Sydney. The Inner West Distillery Trail has officially launched, linking together nine of Sydney’s top makers of gin, rum, whiskey and vodka, all within a few kilometres of the CBD.
Much like the popular Inner West Ale Trail, this new self-guided adventure invites spirit lovers to go behind the scenes at some of the most acclaimed distilleries in the country. Stops along the way include Marrickville favourites Poor Toms and Ester Spirits, Lilyfield’s Blackwattle Distilling Co (housed inside the heritage-listed White Bay Steelworks), and rum specialists Red Mill Rum, where the trail was recently launched.
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Each stop offers something a little different: cellar doors, cocktail bars, bottle shops, tasting rooms and even working warehouses. You might even run into some of the biggest names in Sydney’s distilling scene – from Ester’s Felix Clark and Corinna Kovner, whose navy-strength gin has been crowned the best in the world, to Otter Craft Distilling, known for its sustainable grain-to-glass whiskies and gins.
Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne says the runaway success of the brewery trail inspired the council to work with local distillers to create a spirits equivalent. “We want to make the Inner West a mecca for spirit connoisseurs looking to explore the range of flavours on offer and see the distillers’ art up close.”
The best part? The trail is completely free to follow – you can start and finish wherever you like using an interactive online map.
These are all the distilleries on the Inner West Distillery Trail:
- Blackwattle Distilling Co
- Ester Spirits
- Eureka Distilling
- Lily Fields Distilling Co
- Moonshiner Distilling Collaboration
- Otter Craft Distilling
- Poor Toms
- Red Mill Rum
- Unexpected Guest Distillery
Ready to drink then crawl? Head over here.