Four Pillars new distillery expansion establishes its place as the largest gin-focussed distillery in Australia.
In 2019, when Lion took a 50% stake in Victorian gin craft brand and two-time International Gin Producer of the Year, Four Pillars, that kind of injection of cash was bound to result in expansion and development.
Now we can see that investment come to fruition. For the past 12 months, Four Pillars has been working on its Yarra Valley Distillery expansion set to open on 17 March this year.
The new distillery development includes an expansive gin garden and hospitality space adjacent to their original home on the Lilydale Road in Healesville, regional Victoria.
The team at Four Pillars says the new distillery expansion will rival some of the best distillery offerings globally, and it is just 50 minutes from central Melbourne in the Yarra Valley.
By award-winning, sustainable-only Breathe Architecture, the design will almost triple the capacity for visitors at Four Pillars with an outdoor gin garden, a custom-built bar and events space, plus will improve out-put with a new production facility including a new still.
Arriving at the end of the year will be another as-yet-unnamed still to keep the current Four Pillars four handcrafted German copper stills; Wilma, Jude, Coral and Beth, company.
These five stills, along with in-house bottling and blending facilities, will establish Four Pillars as the largest gin-focussed distillery in Australia.
Anyone who has visited Four Pillars since 2015, especially during the holiday season or on weekends, will know space was an issue. Queues were sometimes long, and wait times were not appealing. The Four Pillars team says there will be no more delay from March as they eagerly welcome visitors from all over the world to come, drink gin, and have a seat at the bar.
Before the pandemic, the Four Pillars distillery was heading towards receiving 100,000 visitors per annum. Once borders open and things return to normal, the team hopes that numbers will exceed 200,000 visitors per year.
The new distillery will also include a dedicated gin shop featuring rare, limited release and Healesville-only gins and merchandise, a tuckshop serving delicious snacks designed by Matt Wilkinson and plenty of sensory surprises.
A spokesperson for Four Pillars says, “You will not need to be a gin fanatic to while away a ripping afternoon, but it will add to the fun if you are!”
The space will be powered by mainly solar panels and is surrounded by a copper ‘veil’ working as a natural heat exchanger, and there is also plenty of onsite parking for visitors.
If Healesville is not on the travel itinerary, there is always the Four Pillars Laboratory, including the Gin Shop and Eileen’s Bar in Sydney’s Surry Hills, where you can attend workshops, tastings and buy Four Pillars gin, including limited-edition releases.
Visit Four Pillars Gin for more information.
