Melbourne does a brisk trade in boutique-distilled liquors, with gins among the most popular and plentiful on offer. One of Victoria's biggest producers of top-shelf mothers’ ruin is Four Pillars, but soon Sydney will also be able to lay claim to these juniper geniuses. In early 2020, Four Pillars will be opening a new 'Drinks Lab' in the Bussel Bros building adjoining the Dolphin Hotel in the heart of Surry Hills.
The centrepiece of this Harbour City operation will be Eileen, a 70-litre still currently in residence at Four Pillars' Healesville distillery. The venue will also be licensed, so gin seekers can sample small batches produced on site, as well as gin cocktails devised by Four Pillars’ creative director, James Irvine.
But the Drinks Lab will be more than just a bar. It will also host masterclasses, tastings and gin themed parties, and stock a range of gin inspired merch, including its Gin Pig Salami, made from livestock fed on the same botanicals that Four Pillars uses to flavour its spirits.
The Sydney-based design gurus from Amber Road – the same interiors experts behind Brix Distillers on Bourke Street, around the corner from the proposed Drinks Lab in Surry Hills – will be crafting the look for Four Pillars’ first Sydney home. The exact opening date is yet to be announced.