“We were wild collecting botanicals from some of the creek beds where we had a bushfire come through,” Mark explains. “Some of the native lemongrass and river mints were contaminated with smoke so we couldn’t use them in the current gin but we found the smoke worked with the mentha in the mints and the citral in the lemongrass.” Mark knew he was on to something as he dabbled in a new distilling technique. “Instead of air drying the botanicals we put them into a smoker that we made ourselves,” he says. “We smoked it with some of the ex-batch of gin to start it up and also used ironbark for the smoking. This technique takes two days in comparison to a ten-day air drying.” “It’s got campfire, bushy notes to it,” he explains. “It’s got all-Australian botanicals apart from the juniper which is sourced from northern Italy. It tastes quintessentially Australian.” “There is a natural sweetness and the balance hits the mark. We increased the cinnamon myrtle – as the cinnamon and smoke go well together.” The smoked gin – currently being stocked by various establishments in Cairns including Ochre, Three Wolves, Gin Social,Vivo and Barbados to name a few – is the third gin to be produced from Mt Uncle Distillery. It joins Botanic Australis (2010), highly ranked in the contemporary world of gin drinking, and Navy Strength (2015). Both individual gins
in their own right and both winning awards nationally and internationally. Mark believes their distilling techniques and use of Australian botanicals set Mt Uncle Distillery apart from other gin distillers, a craft which is growing in popularity Australia-wide. “The techniques we use produce a really good balanced gin without tasting like a grainy spirit,” explains Mark, who just returned from a trip to London meeting with potential distributors for his rum lines. “People are experimenting with gin distilling and I think a lot of them are straying away from the true gin. “A nice gin has a solid backbone, citral, spice, aromatic and sweet components and should have a nice balance. “One shouldn’t overpower the other. Each aspect of the gin should work in with the juniper.” Mt Uncle Distillery also makes a whiskey, vodka, rums and liqueurs, while Mark is working on a new gin based on the north’s own rainforest tree species, Davidson Plum.