Hellyers Road

If you’ve kept an eye on the Australian whisky industry over the last five years or so, you’ll be aware of huge, dynamic change. We’ve seen more than 30 new distilleries bring their debut release to market. We’ve seen large-scale distilling emerge, and we’ve seen corporate and investment money now backing many distilleries. We’ve also seen companies with main interests in other categories of the drinks industry add whisky-making to their portfolio (e.g Angoves, Morris, Bickfords, and Coopers). And we’ve seen new blended whisky products appear with malt whisky being blended with grain whisky (wheat) to produce cheaper and more widely available bottlings. We’ve also seen more contract distilling occurring, and we’ve seen an increasing number of Australian independent bottlers appear. With all the change and all the noise around some of the above developments, you could be forgiven for overlooking some of the long-established names who’ve just quietly gone about their business. Hellyers Road is one such distillery.

In this new, modern age of the Australian whisky industry (generally accepted as commencing from 1992), Hellyers Road is, in fact, one of our oldest distilleries. Having established and commenced operations in 1997 and stayed on the one, same site ever since, it can legitimately claim to be Australia’s oldest operating whisky distillery, noting that both Lark and Sullivans Cove had periods of dormancy and/or closure, and have also re-located to new premises since their respective foundations. Incredible to think, then, that Hellyers Road has been with us for almost 30 years!

Hellyers Road Distillery is located just outside of Burnie, in the north-west corner of Tasmania. Roughly a two-hour drive from Launceston, the distillery is less than 3km from the ocean of Bass Strait, and its coastal location plays a key role in the maturing whisky’s micro-environment, as we’ll explore shortly.

From its inception, Hellyers Road was different. Rather than the small-scale or “mums and dads” operations that typified many of Australia’s distilleries that set up amongst the early players, Hellyers Road was formed by a co-operative of family-owned dairy farms that were looking to diversify their interests. It thus had sound and consistent financial backing, and the vision to launch with scale.   In terms of production capacity, Hellyers Road was Australia’s largest malt whisky distillery for over 20 years! Another key point of difference for this distillery was its main piece of kit: The stills. With the owners’ background in dairy equipment and the accompanying knowledge and resources at their disposal, it is perhaps unsurprising that the founders opted to build their stills from stainless steel! Unique in the industry, they are large, round pots fitted with a copper neck and lyne arm. We’ll come back to this feature shortly.

Another feature that made Hellyers Road unique was that, from the very outset, the distillery did its own milling, mashing, and brewing on site. This is in stark contrast to the many Tasmanian distilleries (and a few mainland ones) that have their wash made for them by a third-party beer brewery. (This curious loophole in Australian whisky production was discussed in our feature article here).

For many keen Aussie whisky fans, Hellyers Road’s liquid was largely unveiled to us at the MWSoA’s third National Malt Whisky Convention in Melbourne in 2007. Yes, its whisky had been available on shelves prior to then, but it was at the convention’s Expo on Day 2 that a foursome of Australian distilleries – Lark, Bakery Hill, Sullivans Cove, and Hellyers Road – set up strategically in the middle of the room and showcased their wares to largely Scotch-loving delegates. The larger production capacity at Hellyers Road meant that it was the first Australian distillery to be willing and capable of vatting multiple casks together to bottle a consistent core range, and it was also the first that was capable of supplying the supermarket chain liquor stores en masse across the country.

However, it wasn’t all plain sailing, and there was an issue that emerged: Hellyers Road was unique as a distillery, but it was also unique as a spirit. As more Australian whiskies started to appear on the market, (e.g Limeburners, Southern Coast Distillers (now Tin Shed Distilling Co’s Iniquity), Overeem, and the reincarnated Sullivans Cove), many observed and commented that Hellyers Road’s flavour profile was unique and had a defining character – with people often reaching for descriptors like metallic or sulphury. Few consumers would have appreciated the reason for this, but it came back to the equipment: The stainless steel stills at Hellyers Road result in the spirit having less copper contact during distillation, and copper can assist in removing sulphur compounds from the distillate.  

As an aside, some well-known Scottish distilleries play this to advantage – distilleries wanting to produce a meatier, more sulphury spirit will minimise the spirit’s contact time with copper by running a faster distillation and using traditional worm-tub condensers. (As opposed to the more modern shell-and-tube condensers that result in significantly greater copper contact).   Craigellachie and Mortlach are two such exponents of this. Similarly, the very modern Roseisle Distillery has both copper and stainless steel condensers fitted to its stills, and the distiller can switch between the two, depending on the campaign and style being produced. The stainless steel condensers are used to produce a meatier, sulphur-heavy spirit. (Not to be confused with cask sulphur! To understand the distinction, you might like to read our article about sulphur here).

Hellyers Road effectively addressed the issue of a sulphury/metallic new-make via two mechanisms. The first was pro-active action; the second was passive and a function of time. To elaborate, the pro-active action was how they charged and ran the stills. (We’ll discuss this in a moment). The passive mechanism was seeing the results of spirit spending more time in the barrel.

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We’ll digress here for just a moment: If one was to very crudely simplify the steps and processes followed by most new Australian distilleries establishing themselves, it would go something like this:

1. Commence distilling.
2. Fill your spirit into as many different cask types as you can (20L, 50L, 100L, 200L, American oak, French oak, ex-fortified, ex-wine, ex-bourbon, ex-anything).
3. Wait a few years.
4. Learn which casks worked and which ones didn’t.
5. Adjust / tweak the cask acquisition program and fill into more-strategically chosen casks.
6. Wait a few years.
7. Learn which casks worked; which ones gave better results; explore why some things worked and some things didn’t; learn more about the maturation behaviours unique to your location and micro-climate. Learn what the impact is from laying your casks down for three, five, seven years or more. Cross-reference and correlate cask size versus years of maturation versus balance and quality.
8. Tweak / adjust / strategise further. Keep going.
9. Wait a few years.
10. Review, learn, determine and pinpoint precisely what works best for your fermentation, your distillate, your cask program, your maturation, and your location.

You’ll note that “waiting” and “learning” are two key and repeated aspects to the above, and these are the inconvenient truths that no one likes to discuss in the Australian whisky industry. Speak to any of today’s successful and celebrated distillers – Bill Lark, Ian Schmidt, Casey Overeem, David Baker, Cameron Syme, Patrick Maguire – and they’ll all confirm they didn’t stumble across the winning formula on their first attempt. It took them years and many trials/attempts to discover what worked best for their particular setup, and they constantly tweaked and adjusted their operations along the way. The big “take away” here is time, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the distilleries who are consistently winning awards and being celebrated for consistent results are largely the ones that have been at it for longer.   Not only have they learnt from their long years at the coal face, but their spirit has the benefit of time in the barrel.

And that, precisely, is one of the reasons why Hellyers Road now re-emerges triumphantly. Armed with experience and the benefit of time, Hellyers Road has found its winning formula. And time is a key variable in that formula. Let’s return to sulphur and discuss how the distillery addresses it: Courtesy of the stainless steel stills, the wash and distillate have arguably less contact with copper than other distilleries. (To be clear, Hellyers Road’s lyne arms are copper and the condensers feature copper tubes, so there is plenty of copper contact in the process. Furthermore, copper plates have also now been installed inside the wash still.) And the stills’ sheer size is used to advantage as Fiona Coutts, Hellyers Road’s Head Distiller, explains: “Despite being massive in their overall capacity, both the wash and spirit stills are charged to only two-thirds their capacity, thus leaving enormous head space for reflux to occur. This reflux encourages countless “mini-distillations” to take place prior to the distillate reaching the condenser, thus refining and purifying the liquid. In addition to the high headspace in the stills, we distil to a very high strength – in fact, the spirit is already at 70% after the first run. So the spirit is highly purified before it hits the copper and rectified.”

But it doesn’t stop there. Adding to the equation, the spirit is filled into large-size, charred barrels. Charcoal is another substance that reacts with and removes sulphur from spirit, and the charred barrels serve to filter and reduce the concentration of sulphur compounds in the maturing spirit. While many Tasmanian distilleries fill into 100L casks or smaller, Hellyers Road fills primarily into 200L and 300L casks, which permit a longer, slower maturation. The longer years in wood facilitate longer contact with the charred surfaces of the casks, and any residual sulphur is dealt with accordingly. It is thus no coincidence that Hellyers Road’s rapidly expanding trophy cabinet is being filled with awards for many of their older whiskies. (On that very note, and adding to the trophy cabinet – only just last month, their 21yo Peated Cask Finish won Best Australian Single Malt at the World Whiskies Awards. We’ll repeat that: The WWA judges concluded that the Hellyers Road 21yo Peated Cask Finish was the best single malt made in this country. I may need to update our article, “Which is the best Australian whisky?” 😉

Hellyers Road now has the distinction of being one of the few (the only?) Australian distillery to have multiple core-range products with double-digit age statements. In addition to the Oloroso Cask 10yo, the Journeyman release prominently features 12yo ex-bourbon casks vatted with a small amount of 5yo ex-port casks. But their Prestige range is something to behold: The American Oak 12yo, the American Oak 16yo single cask, the Voyager Cask 19yo, and a number of single cask bottlings that are 20, 21, and 22 years old respectively speak volumes to how the distillery is managing their maturation.

Hellyers Road also has a range of award-winning Whisky Creams.  If you’re partial to a glass of Baileys or the like, you should definitely check this out.  In additional to the “Original” cream, the range also includes both a Salted Caramel and a Coffee variant.  At $44 for a 700ml bottle, you’ve got some choices for a dessert dram!

It is interesting to note also that, right from the outset, Hellyers Road largely favoured American oak and ex-bourbon casks to fill their new-make into. Yes, other wine and ex-fortified casks are certainly used at Hellyers Road, but these are often used for finishing, rather than full-term maturation. Whisky & Wisdom looked into this five years ago with an article exploring that full-term maturation in ex-fortified and ex-wine casks is a more difficult prospect to get right in Australia.

Ten to fifteen years ago, the common believe amongst many was that Australian whisky couldn’t be matured to such grand ages. However, such a belief was rooted in the observations of what was happening to 100L casks matured in the drier, less humid belt of Hobart. Hellyers Road’s location – 200km north of Hobart and by the ocean – is more temperate, and the maturation conditions are wholly different, particularly the Angels’ Share. Indeed, the distillery observes that the ABV strength in the cask at the time of disgorging is much the same as when it was first filled. This is in stark contrast to Hobart, where most of the distilleries experience increasing ABV percentages as it’s the water content in the barrel reducing over time.

Although she only turned her hand to distilling in 2021, Fiona Coutts’ background leaves her superbly suited to the role of Head Distiller: Scottish ancestry; an 18 year career in biomedical sciences; a long-held love for craft beer and whisky; and transferrable skills across engineering, science, and microbiology leaves her with a strong pedigree when it comes to the science of yeast, fermentation, distillation, and maturation.  She exercises her science background further, having recently established a new sensory assessment protocol at the distillery that brings a level of QA across the distillery’s procedures and reporting, making everything a more robust system. “Consistency is key!” she says – echoing a sentiment and a topic Whisky & Wisdom addressed in this article back in 2014!

And, like all good distillers, she’s always experimenting and tweaking. She’s overseen trials with different yeasts; trialed different fermentation times to play with the character of the wash; and the distillery is currently playing around with some ex-Sauternes casks, some ex-sherry casks, and also Armagnac casks and Grand Cru red wine casks.  

Hellyers Road’s peated whiskies continually win favour (and awards!) and they’re one of the few Australian distilleries to source peated malt from Scotland. (As opposed to the post-malted wetting and smoking process which was pioneered by Lark and adopted by other distilleries). The distillery does one peated campaign each year, using 27 tonnes of heavily peated malt (40ppm) sourced from Bairds. The cuts are adjusted during distillation for this campaign, noting that you want to dig deeper into the feints ends of the run, as this is when many of the phenols come through. I asked Fiona which of the many Hellyers Road releases was her favourite? “The 7yo Peated hits the sweet spot for me – it has the balance between approachability, the characteristics you get from American oak, plus the contribution of peat.” You can read our own thoughts on the 7yo Peated release further below.

Hellyers Road has won more awards for its whiskies than we’ve got space to list here! If you want to read the full list, drop by this page here. In 2024 alone, the distillery won four awards at the World Whiskies Awards (each for being the outright winners in their respective categories); one award at the World Liqueur Awards; two awards at the Global World Whisky Masters; two at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition; and one at the International Wine & Spirit Competition.

Stop by for a visit!

If you’re coming from Launceston or all the way from Hobart, the good folks at Hellyers Road appreciate you’ve made a journey to get to Burnie. As such, the distillery has one of the more inviting and purpose-built Visitor Centres in the country. Indeed, they host over 35,000 visitors each year!  The tours are well structured; just be sure to book in in advance.

Readers who tried and judged Hellyers Road five or more years ago need to re-calibrate and take stock. This is now a very different whisky to what may have been your introduction to the distillery many years ago. And I include myself in that camp – I was guilty of overlooking this dram for many years. (My last encounter was probably when I last visited the distillery in 2016). Nine years is a long time in the Australian whisky industry!

However, to address my oversight, Hellyers Road was kind enough to send a generous range of samples for Whisky & Wisdom to try, taste, explore, and critique. In fact, no less than 14 different Hellyers Road whiskies were tasted over several nights and put under the microscope. The consistency in quality, DNA, and enjoyment was extraordinary, and if I’m to be entirely honest….I thought 12 of the 14 samples were absolute winners and wonderful whiskies. And, in truth, there wasn’t much wrong with the other two, either – they just didn’t quite reach the high bar that their stablemates had set. A strike rate of 12 from 14 is a score most distilleries would dream to achieve, and it speaks volumes as to the strides and achievements Hellyers Road has made. It’s not hard to see why the awards and plaudits are coming in fast.

Thanks to David Debattista, Fiona Coutts, and Derek Charge at the distillery for their time and insights, and also for the samples and photographs supplied. If you’re keen, you can read Whisky & Wisdom’s thoughts and tasting notes on each of the Hellyers Road whiskies sampled for this piece below.

Cheers,
AD

Hellyers Road Whiskies – W&W’s Tasting Notes

(N = Nose; P = Palate; F = Finish; C = Comments)

Aurora Australis 40% ABV, $99

N: Very creamy. Fruit flan and vanilla custard. Tropical fruits. Confectionery banana / banana musk lollies. Some wonderful fruity esters, this is exceptionally perfumed and spirit-led. Light, fragrant, and approachable.

P: Some nice malt – light cereal notes, a little grassy. Perhaps a hint of menthol or eucalyptus?  A little thin in the context of the very juicy and tantalising nose that set the palate up; one suspects this is young and hasn’t had as much oak influence.

F: Tinned fruits. Trails into a light bitterness.

C: Vibrant and youthful, the palate didn’t quite live up to the strength of the nose, but the flavours make it easy drinking and it’s very approachable. The Scots would call this a breakfast whisky. This is an Australian single malt whisky for less than $100 – an incredible achievement, and it deserves to be more widely known.

 

The Journeyman, 46.2%, $169

N: Upfront, there’s banana lollies again. Then more of a crème-caramel comes through, morphing into Columbine Chews. Under the sweet notes lie hints of milk coffee; perhaps some Bonox gravy? It’s a very pleasant nose – for the Scotch drinkers, this is not a million miles away from Speyside.

P: Black bread / dry toast. Some strong savoury notes, e.g. soy chicken; Asian stock.

F: The savoury stock notes trail away, leaving a slightly woody bitterness.

C: The higher ABV of 46.2% carries this nicely. Good body and depth. It’s on the drier side; those with a sweeter tooth might look to what’s coming up next…

 

Double Cask, 46.2%, $119

N: The French oak wine casks are immediately evident. The nose is significantly fruitier and heavier: Densely packed forest fruits (red currants & blueberries). Seems more oak-driven than spirit-driven, and similar in profile to some other Tasmanian malts. (Hobart Whisky came to mind).   With time in the glass, the malt wafts through, together with hints of toffee and sticky date pudding. Remarkably complex and changing with time; there’s a bit to unpack here.

P: Silky on the palate with a lush mouthfeel to start, although some drier tannins come through on a second wave. Toasted oak and a minerality round out the palate, albeit against a sweet undercurrent.  Very full and rich flavours, though with strong oak influence.

F: Toasted muesli / granola. A tad drying, courtesy of the tannins.

C: Noticeably darker in colour, the wood influence is evident before you’ve poured your dram. This dram is in that polarising category where the oak dominates proceedings. Some Aussie whisky fans love this; I’m less taken by it. French oak can have a tendency to impart tannins to the whisky, together with the tannins from the previous wine filling.   The flavours on this whisky are brilliant, but the final mouthfeel and finish is on the dry side, bordering on tannic.

 

Oloroso de Jerez 10yo, 46.2%, $200

N: Soft, teasing, and elegant – almost restrained as it holds back a dam about to burst. I’ll repeat the word elegant…it’s a delight to nose. It’s tightly packed to start, then begins to unravel its treats: Christmas pudding, raspberries and cream, honey drizzled on figs. This is a serious whisky. Returning to the nose after tasting, there’s now rose petals and rosewater, yet also some lime juice. I could nose this forever…

P: The palate has a bit of spice, almost zest. Orange rind and pith; flat cola or cola jubes; then more citrus – tangerines? Again, it’s complex and it unpacks itself slowly…almost a striptease of flavours.

F: Soft hints of citrus (lime) and a soft effervescence. Your mouth feels like you’ve just finished sucking a Fruit Tingle.

C: A superb whisky. The oloroso influence has taken this in wonderful directions. I suspect the Oloroso cask is quercus alba rather than quercus robur…it doesn’t quite pack the raisiny punch of the big sherry monsters, but it instead brings complexity and balance.  A wonderfully concocted dram. 

 

Peated 7yo, 46.2%, $150

N: The peat is light and subtle, revealing itself through hints of mint, chalk/limestone, licorice, and – with time – a bit of earthiness and forest floor. Don’t go looking for an Islay smoke bomb….you’re on the wrong train. The peat emerges with a bit more strength after some time in the glass and a bit of swirling. It’s actually a very pleasant nose – the peat shapes the aromas but doesn’t drive them. Confectionery “milk bottles” and hints of vanilla lie just under the surface.

P: Deliciously sweet and, again, the peat shapes the flavour without dominating it. Slick and oily on the palate, there’s a tight three-way interplay between savoury, sweet, and peat…and none of them overpower proceedings. It’s well balanced and integrated.

F: Ashy! If the peat was understated on the nose and palate, it’s the finish where you’re left under no illusion. Leaves a wonderful ashy footprint on the palate and in the nasal cavity; almost tricking you into thinking you’d just drawn on a cigar. Just a slight, metallic bitterness right on the tail end.

C: This is a fun whisky – the nose entertains and the palate satisfies.  

 

American Oak 12yo, 46.2%, $260

N: Quiet, soft, and subtle. Something pleasingly floral – pot pourri?

P: Tinned fruits, i.e. peaches & pears, on a firm cereal base.  

F: Toasted rye bread.

C: Not the most complex in the line-up thus far, but a straight-shooter and very drinkable.

 

American Oak 21yo, Cask 2283.01, 55.9%, $1,350

N: Pleasant malt. Honey drizzled over heavily buttered toast.

P: Firm, grippy palate. Good depth and body – despite the long years in wood, the oak is not dominant.   Nice mix of sweetness, fruit, cereal, and oak.

F: Burnt toffee. Sourdough bread.

C: Served blindfolded, I suspect some would struggle to identify this as an Australian whisky. It could just as easily be from the heart of Speyside. Again, it’s not super complex, but there’s enough to unravel if you give it time.  21 years is a long time on oak; give this dram the time and respect it deserves.  It’s very nicely balanced and easy to drink.

 

Voyager Cask 19yo, Cask 20F10c03, 57%, $645

N: Sweet porridge, perhaps with some brown sugar and a drizzle of whisky on top!

P: The higher ABV on this carries it beautifully – not at all aggressive, but it’s bold and solid. The cereal note carries through – again, possibly a return of the muesli / granola that came through on the Double Cask. (Interesting….that was also a French oak finish!) Then comes a hint of apple, perhaps even toffee apple.

F: Vanilla pastries, perhaps even Portuguese tarts.  Leaves a sweet footprint.

C: As a cask-strength junkie, I really enjoyed this. Great mouthfeel; great strength and weight; yet still delivered the malt, the sweetness, and the fruit.

                                                                                                                                  

American Oak 16yo, Cask 3191.04, 60.7%, $540

N: Lime citrus. Sweet pastry notes, bordering on Krispy Kreme donuts with a fruit glaze! Lemon meringue pie to round it out.

P: Wow. WOW! Okay, this is special. Stunning tropical fruit notes – think pawpaw, cantaloup / honeydew melon. There’s also some toasted banana bread. On return sips, a slightly black jellybean or black jellybaby note emerges.

F: Superb length; the high ABV carries the sweetness for an insanely long and lingering footprint.

C: Exceptionally complex. One of those happily frustrating whiskies where you’re not sure whether to quaff it and enjoy it, or take your time and let it slowly unravel.  Brilliant whisky.

 

American Oak 22yo, Cask 2241.07, 59.9%, $1,350

N: Initially a bit more subdued compared to the preceding 16yo, but it opened up with time to reveal some savoury mince, a touch of acetone, and cereal grain.

P: The alcohol is a bit more forceful here – the heat overwhelms the flavours a little, although it’s tasty underneath. A few drops of water tames things somewhat, revealing sweet malt, hints of Golden Syrup, and a very pleasant toasted oakiness.

F: Boozey pancakes and pikelets, with a light, fine dusting of icing sugar.

C: There’s some great stuff taking place here, but the high ABV obscures it. I suspect this would have sung from the roof tops at somewhere between 46-50%?

 

American Oak 20yo, Oloroso de Jerez Cask Finish, Cask 23V07c03, 54.2%, $890

N: Soft. Gentle fruits; light wisps of cereal grain; and a roasty-toasty oakiness.

P: The wine influence is perfect and just right – not too domineering, yet strong enough to leave a footprint. Nice fusion of savoury and sweetness. Very impressive that after all the years in oak, the malt is still prominent. And very delicious.

F: I used the words “just right” above and may have psyched myself into this…but the finish reminds me of Kelloggs Just Right breakfast cereal.

C: A great session whisky, this one. You could sip at this for a long time while catching a film; enjoying the footy; or watching the sun go down.

 

The Iberian. Sherry Cask & Port Cask Matured. 48.3%, $220

N: Heavily buttered banana bread toast. Banana lollies. Then come the floral notes – and they’re huge! It’s a real pot-pourri basket.

P: There’s a slight bitter, metallic note to this one, but it fuses tightly to the fruitier elements. I’d reach for SPC’s tinned “Two Fruits”, but it’s more savoury than that. The mid-palate has a wee hole in it.

F: Confectionery sweetness; bubble gum flavour, and tutti-frutti.

C: The nose on this was spectacular and set quite the scene….unfortunately the palate didn’t quite have the same depth behind it. Tasty and fun…it perhaps suffered for having to follow the preceding 20yo, which was an absolutely stunning dram.

 

Peated 19yo, Cask 4085.05, 62.3%, $1,100

N: Instantly displays a soft peat that is more about hospital corridors, bandaids, and antiseptic than it is about earthy soils and potting mix. There’s a tantalising sweetness lying under the peat; it rears its head a bit more with swirling of the glass. Imagine fruit bonbons layered in a coating of soft, minty smoke.

P: Incredible notes of bitter/sweet with an entertaining interplay between the two. There’s the bitterness of unripe fruits, but it’s perfectly balanced and counter-pointed by honey-drizzled cereal and the sweet, perfumed smoke. Superbly complex, this is another one to spend some time with.

F: A very pleasant dryness – the oak weighs into the conversation here, and it combines with the dry smoke from the peat. Hugely long.

C: Another essay in complexity, and a great fusion of malt, peat, oak, sweetness, fruit, and savoury-ness. You can see why these older, peated releases are winning awards.

 

Dark Harmony, Black IPA Finish, 53.5%, $240

N: Ooh! Some tantalising malty and yeasty notes are present, courtesy of the ale cask. Sourdough, German black bread, and an intriguing “pastrami on rye” aroma!

P: Wonderfully savoury – roasted nuts; beef stock; umami. A hint of menthol.

F: Gingernut snaps.

C: Reminiscent of the wonderful ale cask finished blended Scotch release that Grants put out about 10 years ago.   A nice point of difference from the rest of the range.

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If you found this article interesting, you might like to read our other articles on Australian whisky.  You’ll find them in this Category section here.

You might also enjoy these related articles:

Whisky Awards – Who really wins?  

The complete guide to oak, casks, & whisky maturation