Heather Tillott, Sullivans Cove Distillery, Tasmania

Knock Tales Whisky Podcast with Gordon Bruce

Quirky production, prohibition and never selling your soul to the (mechanised) devil: Gordon meets his whisky making match in Heather Tillott, Head Distiller of cult Tasmanian whisky brand Sullivans Cove in this edition of Knock Tales.

Starting out in Australia’s famed wine business, Heather fell in love with whisky after touring a few of Tasmania’s distilleries, and soon after took up a post at Sullivans Cove on the island’s beautiful south coast.

In a fascinating half hour, Heather charts the region’s whisky making journey: from penal colony where whisky production was prohibited until the early 1990s; to leader of the global craft distilling boom. Along the way she shares the secrets of Sullivans Cove's world record breaking medal streak and their plans to up sticks and take the distillery back to its roots on Hobart’s waterfront.

Meanwhile Gordon gets philosophical about the long life cycle of single malt whisky and how it feels to be laying down stock that he won’t be rolling back out of the warehouse – as well as revealing why he’s so terrified of wine experts when they pay him a visit at Knockdhu.