Bakery Hill Distillery, Australia's oldest mainland whisky distillery, is proud to unveil its first-ever Private Whisky Barrel Program — an exclusive opportunity for whisky enthusiasts to craft a truly personalised barrel experience.

This innovative program is set to offer the most customisable whisky journey in the country, allowing individuals to select from three barrel options and four unique spirit types, ensuring a one-of-a-kind creation.

With decades of expertise and a rich heritage behind every bottle, this unique program invites connoisseurs to immerse themselves in the art of whisky-making like never before.

  • Larger size casks (30L) – deeper richer maturation, more whisky, less evaporation
  • Multiple Barrel types
  • Multiple whisky types
  • Australia’s best distilled spirit


The Spirit Options

Bakery Hill is feted around the world for the quality and consistency of our single malt whiskies. The centrepiece of this whisky is the spirit, created through the processes of barley growing, malting, milling, brewing, and finally double distilling through Steve – our legendary copper pot still.

We are very excited to be able to present to you four options for the base spirit going into your barrel. This is where this Private Barrel program separates itself from the rest of the pack

  1. New Make Spirit (Unpeated)
    Our classic clean, rich and sweet new make spirit, just distilled and ready for barrelling. The very essence of the Bakery Hill DNA

  2. New Make Spirit (Peated)
    For the smoky Peated fans out there. Sweet, salty, smoky and funky, our peated new make provides an amazing creamy mouthfeel and unrivalled complexity

  3. Partially Aged Whisky (Unpeated) 
    Our Classic whisky aged for around 3-4 years in American Oak ex-bourbon cask provides the ultimate canvass for you to experiment with your chosen finishing private cask. Rich in honeycomb, vanilla, fresh apples and pears

  4. Partially Aged Whisky (Peated) 
    For max flavour with a huge amount of character, our 3-4 year old Peated Whisky matured in an American Oak ex-bourbon cask has it all. Using “highland” style peat and produced at around 20 ppm, the peat is a complimentary flavour note to the whisky without overpowering.

The Oak Options

Again why limit yourself to only one type of barrel. We have worked closely with our barrel supplier and cooperage partner and are pleased to offer three 30L barrel options for you to craft your own Bakery Hill whisky legacy.

*Note - Larger format cask sizes may also be available upon request. Please contact info@bakeryhill.com to enquire

1

American Oak Ex-Bourbon
For the traditionalists, this barrel type will provide a classic, consistent, clean, fresh and sweet flavour profile which will work with every type of spirit available. The closest option to a traditional and renowned Bakery Hill whisky. These barrels are heavily charred to promote a spirit forward profile.

2

European Oak Ex-Spanish Sherry (Oloroso)
For fans of fortified wine cask matured whiskies, sweet, decadent and imparting an amazingly deep colour palate on your whisky. This cask option is perfect for finishing partially aged whisky, These barrels are uncharred (but have received a light toast) and will impart barrel and sherry notes into your Bakery Hill whisky

3

American Oak Ex-Rum
For something completely different, we have sourced some amazing re-coopered ex rum casks, which could provide a unique full maturation option for new make spirit or create a fun secondary “finishing” cask for semi matured whisky. These barrels are heavily charred and promote spirit forward profile whilst also providing some light rum influence.

Personalisation

We are pleased to offer the opportunity for you to brand or personalise your private cask with embossing from the cooperage at no extra cost.

Maturation

The casks will be filled with Bakery Hill Distillery new make whisky spirit or 3-4 years old partially matured whisky, at around 65% abv and depending on the barrel, spirit and climactic conditions will take approximately 2-3 years to mature.

The barrels will mature in our distillery barrel warehouse at 411 Macaulay Rd, Kensington, VIC, 3031, under the watchful eyes of our distillery team.

A 30L barrel may lose, via natural evaporation through the wood, approximately 15% in spirit volume year on year due to the local climate in Melbourne. This is known as the ‘Angels Share’ and could be more or less depending on specific climatic factors such as temperature and humidity for each year that the spirit is matured. On average, after 2 years, a 30L barrel may have remaining spirit of approximately 20-25 litres and after 3yrs approximately 15-20 litres. This is an estimate and could potentially be more or less depending on the Angels!


Bottling

The matured whisky will be filled into our Arianne 500ml glass bottles with a brown wood top stopper with a gold embossed logo and a black tamper proof seal.

Our recommendation would be to bottle the spirit at 46-52% alcohol by volume for maximum flavour. This would mean that depending on maturation time, Angels Share and final spirit strength, somewhere between 40-60 bottles could be delivered upon maturation completion. The final number of bottles will vary for each barrel.

We can work with you prior to decanting/bottling day to determine the best bottling abv for your experience. A unique Bakery Hill Private Cask label will be applied and you will have the chance to name your whisky, and/or include a small message which will be hand written on each label.

The product can be delivered to the customer or collected from the distillery any time after 2 years from the fill date up to 3 years. It is highly recommended that the full maturation time and subsequent bottling and delivery date is decided by the customer in consultation with the Bakery Hill distillery team. If required a longer maturation can be negotiated with the distillery.

The Private Cask Onsite Experience

Actually be part of the distillery experience, with the opportunity to visit the distillery to:

  • Fill your cask, receive your certificate of ownership, and take home a 50ml mini of the filling spirit

  • Visit your cask after 1 year to check in on the progress and take home a 50ml mini of the partially matured spirit

  • Upon final maturation (mutually agreed between yourself and the Bakery Hill team) be part of the decanting, bottling and labelling process

If you are unable to attend the distillery for any or all of these milestones, arrangements can be made to have distillery tasting and progress notes emailed, and 50ml mini bottles available for collection or posted to you.

Alternatively when your whisky is mature we can organise a courier on your behalf (and at additional cost) to deliver your bottles (and even your barrel) to your nominated Australian address or by appointment you can collect directly from the distillery.

Timeline

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