Gippsland's Natural Distilling Co claims Australian Gin Awards silver medal

The Natural Distilling Co is a sustainability focused company based in Gippsland, Victoria, distilling organic gin and vodka using homegrown hemp.

The journey started in 2015 when founder and director Rhys Staley started making whiskey in his grandfather's old dairy vat.

His Science Degree from Deakin University came in particularly handy, and his experiments developed into something of an obsession.

"I spent years googling things, learning processes, making notes and doing distillery tours," he said.

"We discovered a 400 litre copper hot water service behind the wall of our dairy shed and my uncle helped me cut it down, clean and rewire it - suddenly we had a still!"

A 200 litre first fill bourbon barrel was procured from the US with summer days and nights spent sweating over the copper still.

"Family and friends would come around at all hours to help out, curious to see the whiskey finally trickling out of the copper pot made from the hot water service," Rhys said.

"Everyone was a little bit sceptical at first but nevertheless interested and involved."

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It kicked off a long road of experimentation, and Rhys was soon distilling a wide variety of spirits from Gippsland water and ingredients grown on his parent's farm near Wilson's Prom in South Gippsland.

He got himself a second job at Starward Distillery in Melbourne to support his license application and to see first-hand how things were done at one of the most innovative distilleries in the world.

Rhys' grandparents started the dairy farm beside his parent's about 65 years ago when they emigrated from the Netherlands.

Rhys' father now operates both Gippsland farms, milking a herd of approximately 400 Holstein cows.

"The region is renowned for its productivity and I felt had the perfect amount of rainfall and biodynamic soil to cultivate clean and natural hemp," he said.

"Our initial trial crop of hemp was around eight acres, it is a very difficult crop to harvest, clean, and dry, there were a lot of learnings that will be applied to future crops."

Rhys said he didn't fully appreciate his rural lifestyle growing up as much as he does now.

To him, it seemed like never-ending hard work.

"I always loved the machinery and tractors more so than the cattle and husbandry," he said.

"As soon as I heard a tractor I was out the door.

"We were very lucky as kids, we grew up very close to grandparents and cousins.

"A key reason for starting Natural Distilling Co was to give my young family the opportunity to have a rural upbringing, away from the hustle and bustle of Melbourne and Sydney where we previously worked and lived."

Rhys is currently celebrating an October 2021 silver medal win at the Australian Gin Awards for the distillery's Hemp Gin with Beta C.

The accolade follows last year's silver medal for his Myrcene Hemp Vodka and bronze for his Limonene Hemp Gin at the Taste Australia Awards.

"It's been great to receive that recognition, as it helps to confirm what we've believed all along," he said.

"Principles of sustainability aren't just great for the earth and great for the palate - they're great for business, too."

Understanding innovation was key for Rhys - which was what led to the Natural Distilling Co embarking on a voyage to become Australia's most sustainable vertically integrated distilling company.

A key aspect of this comes from their key ingredient: hemp, which is grown on local Gippsland farms.

Rhys' career path had previously led to him working in Australia's medical cannabis industry for some of the nation's leading commercial organisations, and he realised that this innovative crop of the future had huge potential as the perfect opportunity for the family, the farm, the community and the distillery.

The first bottles were sold in late 2019, and since then the Natural Distilling Co has tireless pursued a policy of continuous improvement not just around innovative distilling, but also in regard to sustainability.

"Supporting the ethical production of hemp on our farm through organic, pesticide-free hemp is a key to being a part of the solution," Rhys said.

"My own degree in Biological Science alongside my family's traditional farming background are the crucial elements which allow us to engage in sustainable agriculture, creating food products which are uniquely delicious.

"You've probably heard of biodynamic wine, which has become fashionable in recent years - as far as we know, we're the only biodynamic gin producer in Australia, and the only biodynamic vodka producer in the world."

Rhys discovered that while an increasing volume of consumers are opting for a more sustainable drop, competition judges are equally appreciative of spirits produced via principles of sustainability.

A recent survey revealed that 49 per cent of Australian consumers "intentionally buy items with eco-friendly packaging or less packaging", 47pc "buy from companies that are conscious and supportive of protecting the environment" and 49pc are "buying more biodegradable/eco-friendly products".

For more than half a decade now, Rhys has intensified the brand's focus on all things sustainable, constantly finding new ways to improve.

"We focus on a sustainable work environment, keeping everything as close to home as possible in a closed loop - growing locally, distributing locally and employing locally," he said.

"However, we have a growing customer base all over Australia - and we know it's of great importance to them that we can proudly say that all our packaging and our products are completely sustainable."

The company uses an alternative to bubble wrap - called Hex Wrap, which works in the same way but is eco-friendly, fully compostable and recyclable.

They've swapped sticky tape for eco tape which is made from renewable materials and can even be fed to worms.

Even their bottle labels are eco-friendly, only taking six months to break down in compost.

"We exclusively use carbon neutral packaging in order to substitute out single use plastic products, replacing them with biodegradable and recyclable products," Rhys said.

"We've found sustainable solutions for bubble mailers and packaging tape, and we're starting to understand what the future of bioplastic might look like."

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