• THE SHOALHAVEN'S FIRST LEGAL DRAM •

As far back as 1882, the rugged Cambewarra Ranges that overlook Tara Distillery (pictured right) were notorious for their illicit whiskey stills. Newspaper reports of the time tell of brave police trudging through mountain tracks to find stills. There was much sadness from locals when these renegade distillers were hauled into Nowra Court for their comeuppance.   The spirit was renowned throughout the colony, with illegal shipments regularly leaving Berry and Bomaderry. 

Those days are sadly long gone - for many years now the ranges have remained empty of both whiskey and copper stills, but we are honoured to be reviving this 140 year-old tradition of Shoalhaven distilling!

As a nod to both this tradition and our Irish culture & heritage, we are proud to have released the first legal Australian Poitín.

Before there was whiskey, there was Poitín (pronounced "pot-cheen").   First made by Irish monks back in the 6th century, this delicious and potent unaged spirit soon became known as "uisce beatha" (pronounced "ishka baha") meaning "the water of life".
(It is from this name, often shortened to just "uisce" ("ishka") that we get the name "Whiskey".)

Our The Exile Poitín starts with all-NSW grain: malted barley, unmalted barley and oats, all milled, mashed & fermented on site.  Triple distilled in our traditional copper pot stills, The Exile Poitín is then hand bottled straight from the still. This is a unique, malty, complex, characterful & smooth spirit. 

• WHISKEY •
SINGLE POT STILL & SINGLE MALT

Tara Single Pot Still Whiskey and Tara Single Malt Whiskey are milled, mashed & fermented on site, and distilled in our 2,400L copper pot still called Gráinne

Gráinne takes her name from the Irish goddess of the harvest, and was also the name of the renowned daughter of the 3rd century King of Tara and High King of Ireland, Cormac mac Airt.  

Our whiskey is influenced by our environment, the windswept south coast of NSW. We lay between the pristine white sand beaches of Jervis Bay and the stunning remote wilderness of the Morton National Park, overlooking the picturesque summit of the Cambewarra Ranges. The cool windswept maritime environment can produce temperature fluctuations from day to night that work our casks hard.

Sustainability is a key focus at Tara Distillery. We harvest pure natural Shoalhaven rainwater, run on steam stills, and our spent grain is fed to local cattle. We aim to re-use every part of the process for waste minimisation. 

Tara Whiskey is maturing almost exclusively in a range of full-sized oak casks - join our mailing list to be kept informed on upcoming releases!