HARTSHORNDISTILLERY,TAS
RYAN HARTSHORNWhat happens whenyouachieveyourlife
goal after just twoyearsin itspursuit?
When Ryan Hartshorn’sSheepWhey
Vodka won the gongfor‘World’s
Best Vodka’ at theWorldVodkaAwards
in 2018, the self-taughtdistillerwas,
understandably,a gooddealshocked.
The unexpectedvictorydemandeda
new, more formidableambition.Andso
Ryan of HartshornDistilleryin southern
Tas mania (grandvewe.com.au/hartshorn-
distillery) set to workinnovatinga whey
whisky, again usingthebi-productfromhis
family’s cheesery,Grandvewe.ThefirstiterationofWhey-Skywasnever
intendedtoreachthepalatesof
consumers,butHartshorndecidedto
releasehiselementaryattempt.“Itstarted
asanexperiment.BatchOnesoldoutin
24 hours,”hesays.“I wasstunned.”
Seemingly,Hartshornis onhiswayto
comprehensivelysmashingthrough
anotherlifegoal– remarkablefor
someonewholearnthowtodistilfrom
booksandchatforumsin anattemptto
savehisfamily’sbusinessfrombankruptcy.
“ForthefirsteightmonthsI waslearning
howtodistil,I wasconstantlythinkinghow
I couldmakethisdistilleryrelevanttoour
cheesery,”saysHartshorn.Thenheread
aboutwheyfermentation.Theidea
dovetailedperfectlywithhisplansforthe
distilleryandhisfamily’scommitmentto
wastereductionandsustainability.“I’ma
firmbelieverthateverybusinessneedsto
taketheirenvironmentalandsocialimpact
seriously,”hesays.“It’sourmissiontobea
positivedisruptorin allthatwedo.”
TheWhey-Sky,althoughnottechnically
a whisky,is a stepin therightdisruption.
Thedouble-distilledwheygiveswayto
maplearomaslacedwithcitrusspiceand
languishesin sherrybarrelsfora good
threeyearsbeforebottling,sobe
preparedtowaitforBatchTwo.RyanHartshornin his
element;theexperimental
Whey-Sky;samples(inset);
Hartshornbottlesatthe
cellardoor;productsof
thedistillingprocess.
OPPOSITE:Applewood
Distillery@grandvewecheeses @hartshorndistillery
delicious.com.au 5
UP AND COMERS.