Hobart Whisky

Established in 2014 as Devil's Distillery by the legendary Hobart businessman Ralph Caccavo and his son Rocky, Hobart Whisky was always a passion project with the philosophy of "making whisky for us, that we love, and want to share".

Spirit started flowing from the still in 2015, and as the distillery was a passion project, it had the luxury of flying under the radar for some time, quietly filling spirit into barrels in its unassuming building in the back streets of Moonah.

While in the early days wash was purchased from David Walsh of MONA fame's brewery, Moo Brew, the distillery took over with on-site brewing in 2017.

Using Tasmanian malted barley and of course that crystal clear water Tassie is known for, fermentation takes place in a pair of 2,400-litre fermenters before being run through their 1,800-litre Knapp Lewer copper pot still.

The decision was made early on to concentrate on American oak ex-Bourbon casks for maturation, initially using 40 to 80-litre ex-Hillrock Distillery Bourbon casks at the recommendation of Tasmanian Cask Company's cooper, Adam Bone, who when asked by Rocky about how to approach with filling, suggested not re-coopering them and just filling them straight up. Not only was ex-Bourbon matured whisky the style "that we love", but the barrels also don't overwhelm the spirit, allowing the unique character and flavour of the spirit to shine through. It also sets it up perfectly for finishing in special and unusual casks, which has become something Hobart Whisky's known for.

The first Hobart Whisky release came out in 2018, with the first core-range whisky, the ex-Bourbon cask Signature released in 2020, and joined by the Pedro Ximénez Solera in 2022. Along the way, there's been a large number of limited releases featuring whiskies that have been treated to finishing in a mind-boggling range of casks including fortified & wine casks, rum casks, beer & stout casks, ex-Laphroaig casks and more, not to mention their maple-based Dark Mofo Winter Feast releases.

All Hobart Whisky is hand bottled and labelled in the distillery, and every bottle is individually and uniquely numbered.