Hellyers Road Distillery head distiller Mark Littler will cap off a successful inaugural Tasmanian Whisky Week as one of four “founding” members of the Tasmanian whisky scene, at a dinner in Hobart.
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The “founders dinner” will feature four key figures in the whisky industry. Alongside Mr Littler will be Bill Lark (Lark Distillery), Casey Overeem (Overeem Distillery) and Patrick Maguire (Sullivans Cove).
Mr Littler said the inaugural week had “exceeded expectations” and visitors to the distillery had been up during this week.
Hellyers Road Distillery offered a two-for-one special for inaugural Tasmanian Whisky Week for its Whisky Walk tours, that allowed visitors a tour of the facility and the ability to bottle their own bottle of whisky.
Mr Littler said this time of year was typically quiet for his distillery, but during Whisky Week visitors to the venue who signed up for the walks were up about 20 per cent.
“A lot of people who have come in have mentioned Whisky Week so it’s been a great success,” he said.
Tasmanian Whisky Week officially wraps up on Saturday, with the Founders Dinner on Friday night and international event Whisky Live to be held in Hobart on Saturday.
Mr Littler said he was excited to have the chance to bring some of Hellyers Road’s products to the dinner.
“We will be bringing the Hellyers Road pinot noir finish, which is a single malt whisky,” he said.
Mr Littler will have the opportunity to let guests taste test the whisky and enlighten them about the Hellyers’ Road story.
Tasmanian Whisky Producers Association member and Overeem distiller Jane Overeem said feedback had shown Tasmanian Whisky Week had been a resounding success.
“We’ve had tours twice a day here at our distillery that have been fully booked, we have had seven people from the mainland already,” she said.
“A lot of people from Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide and a lot of them have come down for the whole week, which is what we were hoping for.”
Tasmanian Whisky Week was born from a conversation only three months ago and Ms Overeem said it was fantastic to see all the distilleries in the state jump on board with events.
She said she hoped the Whisky Live event on Saturday would be popular, to ensure it came back to Tasmania.
“If it’s successful on Saturday we are hoping they will come back every year.”
Planning for next year’s Tasmanian Whisky Week will begin soon.