Small stills and hand production give the exquisite results that win awards.

Jon and Sarah Lark of Kangaroo Island Spirits are celebrating their 500th batch of Wild Gin. A true family business, they have taken the time to develop their craft of distilling award-winning gin and other spirits that are all about exquisite flavour drawn from hand-picked local ingredients.

“Sarah and I established our distillery in 2006 and as Australia’s first dedicated gin distillery, we are proud to be one of Kangaroo Island’s family businesses. We get up every morning, turn on the stills, and the gin and other spirits pass through our hands as they are made. We ensure the quality is in every batch. Today we put down our 500th batch in our original 80-litre copper pot still. We are excited to have just installed a 300-litre still to meet the demand for our genuine craft spirits. We live on the premises and have chosen to stay small to ensure that we are involved in the production of every bottle.”

Craft spirit is not about high volume, large markets and chasing the dollars. Kangaroo Island Spirits is dedicated to achieving the highest quality in every batch of hand-crafted spirit that passes through their stills. The process thrives on extracting the best seasonal subtleties from selected local botanicals. This is how Kangaroo Island Spirits’ products earn awards. Small, genuine craft businesses are what bring personality and character to South Australia’s regions.

As a smaller distillery, the Larks know that it is easier to control quality production. They know their ingredients inside out and how to get the best of them. With smaller stills it is possible to make tiny adjustments that give the best results every time. Wineries have vintages, and so does gin when you make it the way they do, using fresh botanicals.

Kangaroo Island Spirits has won many awards over the years and is now in the Hall of Fame for Small Business in their region. In 2016, their Old Tom Gin was Australia’s Champion Gin.