“Why are you such a tight arse dad” I had the nerve to say one evening.
“WHAT WAS THAT BOY? USE THAT LANGUAGE AGAIN AND YOU WILL HAVE YOUR MOUTH CLEANED OUT WITH SOUP EH” he spat back.
“Sorry, dad, but why do you rub your teeth with your finger when you drink whisky?” I politely as possible explained this time.
“To numb my bloody teeth boy. Shut up and get to bed” he spoke.
The old man had many fillings, and on the odd occasion when we seen him pour a Dram, he wouldn’t waste a lick with his teeth manicuring.
The only alcohol in our house growing up was Drambuie, and Glayva.
We had what I would say a septic bottle of port sitting under the kitchen sink down the shack at Scamander, while Boags green made sparcical appearances over summer.
When my siblings and I started to hit the rebellious teenage years, there was no chance of sneaking in a sip of alcohol.
Or, well, we could, but Drambuie or the others tasted like poison.
Me step mummas occasional West Coast Coolers were a good lick, but she was a Jackie Chan with that sorta thing so it was always best not to fuck around with her coolers, as one would find out.
Drambuie was literal vomit back then. Anything top shelf was vulgar to us hormonal little rat bags.
But not so much now.
…
Alcohol plays a huge part in society. In Australia. In Tasmania. And just about everywhere one goes and finds people.
Beer was used as a substitute for water dating back to Roman times. You couldn’t drink water in most large settlements as it was literally septic up until we figured out drains and plumbing and the like.
Us peasants drank beer, and wine, as it was less likely to make you sick when you wanted a drink in big settlememts.
Wine was obviously the drink of choice for the nobles and wealthy others.
Other cultures had their reasoning for the consumption of alcohol, but no time for that here in this blog.
This story is about the whisky.
So archaeological evidence indicates the Jin, and Song dynasties in where we now call China were the first ones to be distilling certain herbs and spices in order to get hammered, numb their pains, or talk to their spirit worlds between the 10 and 13th centuries.
These practices spread along the silk road into the Middle East, then through to Europe.
Many different forms of alcohol popped up over the oncoming centuries.
Bourbon (me favourite), scotch, vodka, and I could go on for days about the countless amounts of distilled liquors that crowd the isles at your local liquor store.
So once our motherland of Brittan took a foot hold of this magnificent penal colony back in 1820, the governer of New South Wales legalised the distillation of liquors in Australia.
The first distillery popped up in 1822, on the best island on the planet, Tasmania, for which was created by a chap named Thomas Haigh Midwood.
Sorrel distillery was quickly followed by about a dozen or so other distilleries, yet in 1839, the pin got pulled on distilleries in Tasmania by the governor at the time.
His Mrs. thought it be better to feed the barley to pigs than to build a distillery industry here in Tasmania, so we imported it for about 150 years or so from the mainland and other places.
If you look at bit closer into it, sounds like she got sick of her husband being a prick when he poured himself a glass. Check it out here
In 1992, the prohibition of whisky distillation ended, and Tasmania has since seen many small batch distilleries pop up all over the place.
Bill Lark was the first one to get pumping on Tasmanian whisky at the end of proabition, with his Lark whisky going on to win many a prestigious awards world wide ever since.
Hillier, Adams, and my favourite Hillwood are the main ones I am familiar with.
I did a tour of Hillier about 10 or so fotty seasons ago.
I use Adams whisky in marmalade at work.
While the prime time of Hillwood and I had a really good go at it after a barista I used to hassle for my caffeine fix tee’d me up with a bottle she was promoting for the head distiller at Hillwood whisky.
Sharp, musky, punchy, and soothing for the soul.
My teeth are in pretty good knick so I didn’t have to worry about numbing my gums like me old man, but it certainly made relaxing after a solid day on the grind a bit easier.
From a food perspective, the only thing I made of any value were soaked raisens.
I don’t know if its trauma, or karma from the odd occasion I did pinch a nip of my old mans Dram, but for the most part some whisky’s remind me of the trauma associated with a vulgar flavour I experienced as a teenager.
Whisky is best had chilled. Added with a chunk of solid H2O. That’s it. No fluff. No fuss. Just solid purity.
Theres is a HUGE differnce though between a $40 bottle of Mccullums and a bottle of say Adams vintage or Hillwood whisky.
Nothing against McCullum’s either, we shared some good times together when I was younger, but the depth of all the good consumables is what you pay for.
Ollie down at Hillwood gave me a good tour of the facilities when I hit him up out of nowhere on a random Tamar valley trip with my boy I while ago.
Paul Herron, along with his triplet sons started Hillwood to help feed their creativeness and love of tinkering.
Check out more of their story here
Having spent the majority of my career in restaurants, you come to realise that you get what you pay for.
You buy in cheap shit, you serve shit and problems quickly follow.
You buy in quality, mix that with quality people who know what they are doing, amd you will serve quality. Good results typically follow this form line.
Hillwood whisky follows a quality form line.
Get on and give them a go.
…
A glass of whisky was a triple winner for my old man.
Use 1) Numbing his frustrations at dealing with 4 little grubs (then 5 more when the step siblings arrived) until the reaper came to collect.
Use 2) Helping to forget his problems for the night.
Use 3) Numbing his face from a lifetime of shit talking about all the 10 pound trout he would lose every time he’d go for a fish (love ya dad 😋)
So as much as alcohol has a positive impact on many parts of society, it also causes much distress if not consumed in a responsible way.
Driving under the influence of alcohol, domestic violence, depression, fractured relationships. I could go on and on about the negative impacts of alcohol if consumed irresponsibly, but I wont.
If you’re gonna drink, just don’t go to hard and be wanker. Look after yourself and those around you.
Enjoy it for what it is. Like all good things, moderation is the key.
If you can afford a fine drop of the lovely Hillwood whisky then I am sure you have your shit together, so head on down and see Ollie for a tour and grab yourself a bottle.
Or jump online here and have a look
Don’t ring up on the fly like me though. Give the man some notice and book ahead.
He will take you for a tour and you can check out heaps of other cool places in the area while you are at it.
Bring your fishing rod and catch a fish too.
Or just chill down the jetty a have a picnic.
Its up to you, you won’t be disappointed.
#I normally do a recipe to match a story, but I didn’t create anything of value with my Hillwood whisky. Check out this marmalade recipe though and throw a shot or 2 of whisky in.
Or better yet, give this one a try.
Links-
#Pickle pro tip – If you’re in the shit on the back of any alcohol issues, reach out and get some support. Life gets tricky sometimes and it is easy to put your head in the sand with a bottle. Moderation is key to enjoying yourself and keeping out of trouble.
References
The rise of Tasmanian whisky | Discover Tasmania https://share.google/U5GZSMQTX8raHVgn3
The fascinating history of whisky making in Tasmania – Callington Mill Distillery https://share.google/DXbkJzi88SLiBqtGL
Tales of a Tassie Chef 