Heading the property’s potential for tourism – as well as whisky distillation – Batt set about restoring the estate’s old water-driven flour mill, built by convicts on 1823. But rather than grinding four, Batt set about using the mill to grist malted barley for his whisky still.
“Nant Estate was the perfect location for a whisky distillery,” Mr Batt says.
“The temperature is perfect and Tasmania produces some of the best barley in the world… we have everything we need to produce a premium whisky and one of the best in the world.”
They must be doing something right. Two years previously, the distillery’s first release Single Malt scored an impressive 91.5% in the same publication. And while there was only 300 bottles of that drop released, this year over 20,000 bottles will be filled with what Jim Murray himself tagged ‘liquid gold’.
And going hand-in0hand with that, this year Nant Distillery will expand with the opening of Nant Whisky Bars in Salamanca, Hobart and at Brisbane’s Emporium Hotel.
With bottles now selling between $165 and $295, per 500mL, Nant is now inviting whisky lovers and investors the chance to buy their own barrel of whisky and to receive the appreciated value as it matures.
“It is a unique offer where we store the 100 litre barrel of single malt whisky on the estate in government approved bond stores.” Batt says. “It is a great opportunity for other passionate people to have a piece of Nant.”
With a focus on quality, the Nant Distillery is dedicated to created homegrown, world-class whisky. “Quality is important to us,” he says. “We want people to enjoy our whisky and be converted… I can assure you, once you drink Nant, you won’t want to drink anything else.”