By Jessica Micallef
There’s a new distillery in the Macedon Ranges.
Mountain Distilling opened its cellar doors to the public in September last year and is proving an ideal tonic for locals looking for a craft distillery in their hometown.
“We have had an incredible response from the local community and broader Macedon Ranges,” co owner Michael Harris said.
“There is a real sense of locals taking pride and ownership over this distillery that just popped up in their backyard and we absolutely love that.”
Mr Harris and co-owner George Cremasco met while they were organising wine and beer for an event in the Macedon Ranges two years ago.
“We realised at the time, [there was] a lack of craft distillers in central Victoria … and we just thought, why not?” Mr Harris said.
“It’s been a passion of ours for years before we met.”
They spent two years researching and developing gins that eventually led them to their first official creation, Mountain Gin, which became the inspiration behind their company name.
Since opening their cellar doors, Mr Harris said the response from the public had been outstanding.
He said the company’s ultimate goal was to “contribute to social outcomes” in Australia and across the globe.
“One of our missions in building and scaling up Mountain Distilling is to ensure that we have a positive impact on people’s lives and land we steward,” he said.
“It’s something that we’ve both valued since day one … we’re looking forward to sharing those stories with you when the time comes.”
Mountain Distilling is located on 4 Taylors Road, Mount Macedon.
