South Australia beverage, food and agribusiness supplier Tarac is taking its first steps into the world of whisky with the release of its first new-make spirit.
The Australian single malt new make has been released as part of a major whisky project at Tarac, which is aiming to supply emerging craft distillers across the country with quality new-make spirit.
In watching the surge in Australian whisky domestically, and increasing interest from overseas, the Tarac team identified a growing gap between production at the country's whisky distilleries – many of which are still young and constrained to smaller volumes – and demand. To tackle this problem, Tarac will use its existing infrastructure and technology – which recovers and repurposes grape alcohol from the wine industry to produce grape spirit for distillers – to produce new-make single malt spirit that will "supplement and complement" the existing stock of maturing Australian whiskies.
Following research and consultation with Australian distillers, the company conducted its first distillation run of single malt new make in November 2021, with the first batch filled to cask in December 2021. The spirit is produced from 100 per cent barley, sourced form South Australia, and undergoes a low-temperature seven-day fermentation with two yeast strains. It is then continuously distilled to approximately 78% ABV.
As well as having existing distilling technology and knowledge from its work with the wine sector, Tarac has a scale that is beyond the reach of most Australian whisky makers – it currently produces more than 10 million litres of spirit per year.
Tarac CEO Jeremy Blanks said, “The whisky project is an innovative step forward for Tarac, demonstrating our commitment to the Australian craft spirit movement, supporting its growth and sustainability. We are focused on quality, accelerating accessibility into the market, and continuing to broaden the market opportunities for craft distillers. Tarac has the capacity, skillset, unwavering commitment to quality and knowledge to partner with craft distillers in this way.
"Right now, limited Australian blended whisky products are available in Australia, particularly in the $60-$90 price segment. We can address this by increasing distillers’ production capacity without increasing the financial investment for new distillation equipment.”
Greg Jackson, Tarac sales manager and project lead, said: "Whisky production is an intensive process in terms of time and labour relative to output. Our whisky project will alleviate distillers’ time constraints when starting or growing their craft whisky brand. Offering blending solutions at pace and volume without compromising quality will empower distillers to explore new markets sooner. Craft distillation
brands can grow immediately, opening new business opportunities."
The Australian single malt new make has been released as part of a major whisky project at Tarac, which is aiming to supply emerging craft distillers across the country with quality new-make spirit.
In watching the surge in Australian whisky domestically, and increasing interest from overseas, the Tarac team identified a growing gap between production at the country's whisky distilleries – many of which are still young and constrained to smaller volumes – and demand. To tackle this problem, Tarac will use its existing infrastructure and technology – which recovers and repurposes grape alcohol from the wine industry to produce grape spirit for distillers – to produce new-make single malt spirit that will "supplement and complement" the existing stock of maturing Australian whiskies.
Tarac"s single malt new make will be marketed to Australian distillers to supplement their own whisky production
Following research and consultation with Australian distillers, the company conducted its first distillation run of single malt new make in November 2021, with the first batch filled to cask in December 2021. The spirit is produced from 100 per cent barley, sourced form South Australia, and undergoes a low-temperature seven-day fermentation with two yeast strains. It is then continuously distilled to approximately 78% ABV.
As well as having existing distilling technology and knowledge from its work with the wine sector, Tarac has a scale that is beyond the reach of most Australian whisky makers – it currently produces more than 10 million litres of spirit per year.
Tarac CEO Jeremy Blanks said, “The whisky project is an innovative step forward for Tarac, demonstrating our commitment to the Australian craft spirit movement, supporting its growth and sustainability. We are focused on quality, accelerating accessibility into the market, and continuing to broaden the market opportunities for craft distillers. Tarac has the capacity, skillset, unwavering commitment to quality and knowledge to partner with craft distillers in this way.
"Right now, limited Australian blended whisky products are available in Australia, particularly in the $60-$90 price segment. We can address this by increasing distillers’ production capacity without increasing the financial investment for new distillation equipment.”
Greg Jackson, Tarac sales manager and project lead, said: "Whisky production is an intensive process in terms of time and labour relative to output. Our whisky project will alleviate distillers’ time constraints when starting or growing their craft whisky brand. Offering blending solutions at pace and volume without compromising quality will empower distillers to explore new markets sooner. Craft distillation
brands can grow immediately, opening new business opportunities."
