Carmel Distillery’s strong reputation in WA’s small-batch spirits industry is based on using locally sourced products and working in conjunction with other small businesses.
Simon King was inspired to open a distillery after getting hooked on homebrewing beer in 2017 when he moved to Carmel, east of Perth. A trip to Scotland to visit family then exposed Simon to whisky distilling and he realised that all whisky starts life as beer, which he already had a handle on. “The downside to whisky is that, in Australia, it has to be aged for two years in a barrel before it can be labelled and sold as whisky,” Simon explains. “That meant I needed a game plan that could include making my own whisky, but it also needed something that didn’t require ageing, which is how I initially arrived at vodka and gin.”
An abundance of local wineries and vineyards gave Simon the idea that working with his local winemakers could provide him with the raw materials needed to make his own neutral spirit from scratch. “The thought of buying ethanol in bulk as a starting point never entered my mind,” he avers. “I knew that I wanted to make something that was a true reflection of the spirit of the Perth Hills, and that’s exactly what I do.
“Winemakers talk about terroir – the characteristic tastes, flavours and aromas imparted to a wine by the environment in which it is produced,” Simon adds. “Because I produce my own neutral spirit using locally grown grapes, this is also true of the products that I craft, and of the local produce I use, which is grown with minimal intervention by way of fertilisers and other chemicals.” This approach makes the neutral spirit as fresh as possible and allows Simon to avoid having to deal with waxes and sprays that are used to protect fruit during transport and storage. “So, when I say you’re getting a taste of the Perth Hills it’s more than just a great sales line, you’re tasting the terroir of the region reflected in its amazing fruit,” he enthuses.
“The business is founded on contributing to, and collaborating with, the local business community.”
Simon is an artisanal distiller, meaning that he uses traditional methods, and equipment, to handcraft small batches of the cleanest, most flavoursome spirits and liqueurs that he can. Small batch size means that consistency is vital to ensure that the product doesn’t drift between batches. Carmel Distillery’s largest batches are its liqueurs, which can run up to about eighty bottles. Spirits max out around 45 bottles per batch; however, Simon keeps his gins in tanks, blending fresh and tank batches for each bottling.
All of the products are, at a minimum, double distilled, with the gins being triple distilled as part of their final production. Carmel’s Classic Vodka, which is its base product, is first distilled from wine and then distilled again into 93 per cent neutral spirit. It is then double carbon filtered at 50 per cent ABV before being cut back to 40 per cent ABV for bottling. The Perth Royal Distilled Spirits Awards in August awarded Classic Vodka as its ‘Champion Vodka’, a notable achievement given that this is only Carmel’s second year of operation.
Community ties
The business is founded on contributing to, and collaborating with, the local business community. “The most obvious manifestation of this mantra is diverting a waste stream to make my neutral spirit,” Simon explains. “Winemakers normally load their presses with grapes and just crack them, taking the free running juice to make their premium wines. The rest of the juice isn’t normally recovered; however, I now take all of that juice and ferment it to make my base wine. I’m not precious about separating out different varieties or even colours, I just need the delicious alcohol that’s trapped in the wine.”
He also works with a local restaurant and vineyard, La Fattoria, that’s owned and run by good friends. He makes their Grappa, Aged Grappa, Limoncello and fig leaf liqueur, which are labelled under their own brand and sold in the restaurant.
Simon’s dedication to the community also means supporting his local markets, getting him in front of customers to represent the brand and serve up tastings. “I only attend markets in the Perth Hills because I want customers to come to the hills and experience what we’re all about,” Simon says. “I love it when they take home a bottle of my Hills Dry Gin or Limoncello because, when they share it with friends and family, they’ll share a story about their day out in the hills and encourage more people to visit our little slice of heaven.”
The area is home to a number of independent bottle shops that are staunch supporters of local producers, so Simon runs tasting events on those premises as often as possible to enable ‘locals to support locals’ and make them evangelists for local brands.
Simon’s community focus also includes a strong commitment to sustainability. “I’m all about minimising waste and maximising utilisation,” he explains. “Minimising waste means that, across the board, I’m actively working to reduce power draw from the grid, water wastage for cooling my stills, recycling anything possible and choosing supply partners that have a similar ethos.” When it comes to use, Simon tries to get full value out of all of the produce that he uses. That includes supplying lemons he denudes of their zest to a friend who has a restaurant who juices the lemons and freezes the juice for use in their cooking.
Mentorship and next steps
Simon is grateful to the “very knowledgeable” mentors who have helped him on his journey in the last couple of years, some on the practical aspects of distilling and others on the aspects of running a business. “About six months ago, I was at a crossroads where I couldn’t quite decide where I wanted to take the business,” he admits. “The best advice I got was from Cameron Mackenzie at Four Pillars, who said to me ‘win at home before you win away’ and that was exactly what I needed – I’m focused on being hyper-local and supporting my community, so this is the perfect place for me to promote my business.”
He is currently looking at a small cellar-door location close to the distillery that would allow him to stop running around the markets every weekend by bringing his customers to him. The plan is to have a small bar and deck area where he can serve up tastings as well as showcase Carmel’s products in cocktails with some snacks to accompany them. “I’ll admit, having worked in a pub in London years ago, I never thought I’d be headed back into hospitality, but I love talking to people,” Simon says. “Customers appreciate that the guy who serves the tastings is the same bloke who makes the products and they have some great questions that I love answering.”
This article first appeared in issue 43 of the Inside Small Business quarterly magazine
