Most people who visit us in Pokolbin come for the wine or the beer, then spot the gin bottles on the shelf and ask the same question: how do you actually make this stuff? Wine and beer are about fermentation, and you can watch most of it happen. Distilling is quieter and a lot more about patience and precision. So here is a plain English walk through of how Wildstreak Distillery makes its gin, vodka and limoncello, and what those steps mean in the glass.
Step one: a clean spirit base
Every spirit starts as a fermented liquid, and distillation is really just separation. Heat the liquid, alcohol vapourises before water does, capture that vapour, cool it back to liquid, and you have something far stronger than you started with. Do it once and you get a rough, characterful spirit. Repeat it and you strip away the heavier compounds that carry harshness.
That is exactly the point of our Small Batch Vodka. It is triple distilled, which means the spirit goes through the process three separate times. The description on the bottle is honest about the result: crisp, clean, with a whisper of vanilla, at 40% ABV. Vodka is the hardest spirit to hide behind. There are no botanicals to cover a rough edge, so the only way to make a good one is to distil carefully and cut generously, keeping the clean heart of the run and discarding the rest.
Step two: choosing botanicals
Gin is where the personality comes in. Legally, gin has to taste of juniper. Beyond that, the recipe is open, and the choices a distiller makes are what separate one bottle from another.
Our Classic Dry Gin takes the traditional route: a robust juniper base complemented by aromatic botanicals, balanced and smooth at 40% ABV. It is built to be a foundation rather than a statement, which is why it works so well in a refined martini or a straightforward gin and tonic.
Our Australian Dry Gin goes the other way and leans into where we are. Locally sourced citrus and lemon myrtle do the heavy lifting: grapefruit, zesty lime and bright tangelos, with creamy macadamia rounding it out. Also 40% ABV. Native botanicals are volatile and can turn bitter or soapy if pushed too hard, so the balance between citrus lift and nutty weight is the part that takes the most tinkering.
The Australian Rosé Gin is the most delicate of the three. Soft rose petals and ripe summer berries sit at 37% ABV, slightly lower than the others, which suits the softer aromatics. And Christmas Gin at 39% ABV shows how far the category can stretch: gingerbread dusted with icing sugar, rich Christmas cake and candied fruit, all wrapped around a classic dry gin backbone.
Step three: getting botanicals into the spirit
There are two broad ways to do this. You can steep the botanicals directly in the spirit before distilling, which gives a bolder, deeper extraction. Or you can suspend them in a basket above the liquid so only the rising vapour passes through, which gives a lighter, more perfumed result. Many gins use a combination, with the sturdier roots and berries steeped and the fragile citrus and flowers treated gently.
This is why two gins made from the same ingredient list can taste completely different. Juniper and coriander seed will happily take a long soak. Rose petals and fresh citrus peel will not, and pushed too far they turn stewed.
Step four: no still at all
Not every spirit goes through a still twice. Our Australian Limoncello is a maceration, not a distillation. Lemon peel from fruit grown in the mountain ranges of the NSW Central Coast sits in neutral spirit until the oils leach out, then the infusion is sweetened and cut back to 30% ABV.
The whole thing hinges on the peel. Only the coloured zest goes in, because the white pith underneath brings a bitterness that never leaves. It is slow, fiddly work, and it is why the finished liqueur tastes of actual lemons rather than lemon flavouring.
Step five: proofing
Spirit comes off the still far stronger than anything you would want to drink, so it gets diluted to bottling strength with water. That sounds trivial and is not. Add water too fast and the spirit can taste thin and disjointed, so it comes down in stages with time to settle. Every batch gets tasted and signed off before it goes near a bottle.
Tasting the difference
Reading about distilling is one thing, tasting it side by side is more useful. Pour the Classic Dry and the Australian Dry next to each other and the difference between a juniper-led recipe and a citrus-led one is immediately obvious, even before you add tonic.
Some pairing suggestions:
- Classic Dry Gin: oysters, smoked salmon, salty hard cheese. A martini before dinner does the job.
- Australian Dry Gin: grilled prawns, ceviche, anything with lime and coriander. Garnish with fresh lemon myrtle leaves.
- Australian Rosé Gin: soft cheeses, prosciutto and melon, berry desserts.
- Small Batch Vodka: the vanilla note makes it a natural for an espresso martini, or keep it in the freezer for a very cold, very clean martini.
- Australian Limoncello: straight from the fridge after dinner, over lemon gelato, or lengthened with soda as a pre-dinner spritz.
🎁 Want to compare all three styles at home? The Wildstreak Gin 3 Pack has the Classic Dry, Australian Dry and Rosé Gin together for $199, saving $26 on buying them separately.
Come and see us
Our cellar door at 694 Hermitage Road, Pokolbin is open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm, and the spirits sit alongside the wine and beer for tasting. The Wildstreak Kitchen serves lunch the same days. We are dog friendly, and bookings are a good idea on weekends.
If Wildstreak spirits become a regular part of your shelf, our Wine Club is worth a look. Members get 20% off spirits and dining, 30% off wine, and free shipping, which adds up quickly if you are the person in your group who always brings the gin.
