This next tasting is with two brands - "Spirit Thief Distilling Co” &  "Whisky In Isolation". Whisky In Isolation was established by Justin Farmer and as the name suggests, it was started when we were all in isolation, at the start of the pandemic, back in Easter 2020. Justin is an independent bottler, but he doesn't just do barrel picks. He collaborates with various distilleries to create distillery firsts and limited editions that are different to their normal styles. The ultimate aim for Justin is to create Just Great Whisky! Justin's inaugural release is called "Nearly New York Sour" and his first chosen distilling company to work with, was Spirit Thief Distilling Co. This brings us to our second presenter for the night - Brett Steel.

Brett Founded Spirit Thief Distilling Co in Tasmania in 2015, together with two parters in the whisky-industry and among the three of them they had experience working with Lark, Sullivans Cove, Belgrove and McHenry, some of the foremost names in Tasmanian whisky. From the outset they had a vision to mature spirit in STR, (stripped, toasted and charred) varietal specific red-wine casks including, tempranillo, shiraz, grenache and cabernet. Their first release in 2018 sold out quickly and this lead to Capital investment to grow the brand and the company. 

Instead of building a distillery up-front they decided to work closely with the infamous Overeem family, whereby Steel began brewing and distilling on $5m state-of-the-art Distilling equipment at the White Label Distillery. This business model allowed them to do significant R&D trials, build volume and an award winning brand and whisky company, before moving onto building their own distillery in 2023. This is your chance to try Spirit Thief Cellar Reserve Series award-winning single malt whiskies, plus a bonus Spirit Thief Dark Mofo Winter Feast Special Release. There will be plenty of fun stories from these gentlemen about how their brands came to be and listen to the challenges they face in starting a new brand. 

Spirit Thief American Oak Shiraz Matured Single Malt, 48.3% (RRP $195)
Spirit Thief French Oak Grenache Matured Single Malt, 48.3% (RRP $195)
Spirit Thief American Oak Cabernet and Bourbon Matured Single Malt, 48.3% (RRP $195)
Whisky In Isolation "Nearly New York Sour", 53% (RRP $185)
Spirit Thief Future Black, Dark Mofo Winter Feast Release 60%, (RRP $295)