The Guide to the Whiskies of Tasmania July 2015 | Page 7

Cream-Whisky Blend
What all this has

Hellyers Road Distillery, Burnie

created at Hellyers Road
is a fascinating range of
products, including one
which combines cream
and whisky in a
tantalising fashion in
Mark Littler, Master Distiller
three different flavours.
These, along with the whiskies proper, are widely
available across Australia and some of the whisky
expressions, but not the whisky cream liqueurs (which
have a limited shelf life), are also found overseas.

What distinguishes Hellyers Road from its competitors
elsewhere on the island is not only its location in the
North but also the fact that it operates on a fully
commercial basis as part of a larger business. It is by far
the largest distillery in Tasmania and the largest boutique
distillery in the country with capacity to produce up to
100,000 litres annually. Although it is currently well short
of that target, it has plans to get to that level and
beyond. However, expansion would probably require an
additional still. The still house has the flexibility to do
that. The present spirit still has a capacity of 20,000 litres
and the wash still 40,000 litres.

The first whisky was produced in 2006 and the
varieties have developed since then until currently there
are no less than eight with more on the way. In common
with most other Tasmanian distilleries the malted barley
comes from the Cascade Brewery in Hobart but,
uniquely, the peat used for some varieties is imported
from Scotland.

North-South Divide

The fact that the other side of this business is a milk
factory leads to all sorts of speculation as to how the
one followed the other. Quite simply, the original milk
business had become so successful that expansion was
inevitable but, given the north/south divide in Tasmania,
the chances of selling
northern milk in the
sout