If you could start your own distillery

@Pandemonium This is an awesome discussion thread. I would have to start from scratch since I live in the former colonies, and don't have the knowledge to make scotch. Taking logistics into account I can source barrels from southern distilleries in Kentucky and Tennessee and using local materials from USA and Canada, I would style my expressions after McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt or Forty Creek Barrel Select, and if I make a blend I would try to run along the lines of Isle of Skye 12yr old. I would also have a base ABV of 43% and natural color with no chill filtration, and dun age warehousing. :)

You don't really need a lot of money to start a boutique distillery.

I'm quitting my professional job and going into whisky production as soon as I can, I won't be needing any wealthy investors, at least not in the beginning.

It won't happen overnight, but I figure I have to give it a crack or I'll never forgive myself.

In terms of style - it'll be an eclectic mix of old and new methods creating a unique Australian Whisky the likes of which have not been seen before.

Australia has pretty much nailed the "Scotch" production method, it's time to innovate and differentiate now and I think the climate is right (literally and figuratively)!

Good for you @systemdown! That's absolutely fantastic. I wish you great success and I hope I may one day be able to try some of your whisky. : )

@systemdown...good luck with your venture, if that's the way you choose to go. At the same time, I couldn't help but notice that the calendar has turned over to April 1st... ;)

I think it's a great hypothetical consideration.

I think I would distil malted barley, unpeated. Maybe in the lowland style (à la Bladnoch - Armstrong vintage). I would focus on cask strength expressions only. Small batch or single cask.

I would source Booker's Bourbon casks and The finest sherry and port casks. In my initial run I would bottle at around the 10 year mark but leave some longer (with quality checks), them do some second fill bourbon and sherry casks for the 25 year old or older expression.

I would be looking to produce sherry bombs. I'd have to see how the port wood goes...it might be better for double maturation after being in bourbon casks. Ideally, the bourbon casks would be aimed at producing something in the style of Amrut Cask Strength.

@systemdown That sounds great. I personally would prefer not to open a "boutique" style distillery, a medium distillery with a production capacity of say 500,000-1000,000 l/year could legitimise the usage of larger and taller pot stills (I'm a firm believer that the shape influences the product). And with a large enough production you could work on a standard range and a special bottling

@Nozinan Wouldn't it be nice if you could just buy Bladnoch right now. As for casks, port finished malts can be quite interesting. But what I would really want to try is a lowland whisky matured in a Calvados cask (like the Springbank distillery did) and a heavily peated whisky matured in a Kriek Lambic cask (I have no idea what the result would be, it could be a disaster, but it might be worth a try)

I would build a small distillery to the exact specifications of the old stizel weller distillery and then I would make hyper aged bourbons aka (12,15,20 and 23 yo) I would call it papa van nolinske hehe. Love this topic!

@systemdown be sure to let us know on Connosr where we can find your wares when u eventually get off the ground :)

@Pandemonium You have a sound plan as far as volume of production and the size of the stills. However I feel that I would go for a size capacity of Edradour, though not as small as a boutique distillery and not as big a capacity as Glenlivet, this would be a good size that would allow for a smaller staff and more of a hands on approach. :)

I would love to start a distillery here in sunny AUS ideally in the wine regions of South Australia, Victoria or Tasmania.