Distinct Australian single malt whisky, crafted and matured in the lush coastal rainforest of Byron Bay. The dense subtropical environment with lashings of sea spray air from the pacific ocean directly influence the characteristics of this unique whisky.
The Cape Byron Whisky Club
We invite you to join our whisky club for exclusive access to first releases, members only offers, invitations to our whisky events, product launches and whisky tastings.
From Grain To Glass
Our heritage of Scottish distilling stems from our Cofounder and master distiller Jim McEwan, is brought to life within the coastal rainforest region of Byron Bay.
Inspired by traditional styles of Scottish whisky paired with the innovation of new world techniques and the unique subtropical environment of the Northern Rivers region is what distinguishes our whisky from other world whiskies.
Masters of brewing, Stone & Wood are tasked with the supply of our Australian malted barley.
We ferment and distill on-site, in the rainforest with mineral rich Mount Warning spring water.
Distillation
The Alchemy, "Uisce beatha", the water of life. Transforming the wash into new make spirit through the art of distillation.
Our whisky is slowly double distilled in the style of a single malt scotch whisky, but ours is affectionately known as Australian whisky.
Once the wash has been distilled through twice, the middle cut or ‘heart’ of the run is captured as new make spirit.
Our new make is exceptional. Its unique tropical aromas of pineapple, lychees and citrus are balanced with sweet cereal notes, fresh fruity characters of pear, apple with a crisp clean lingering finish and slightly oily mouth feel and texture.
The new make spirit is then ready for maturation in our chosen casks.
Rainforest Maturation
Our distillery is nestled amongst coastal rainforest in the Byron Bay hinterland of Northern Rivers region, New South Wales. Surrounded by the lush subtropical rainforest that stretches from the hinterland and continues to the most easterly point of mainland Australia. The casks breathe the sea spray air, earthy fragrance and floral notes, an incomparable freshness from where the rainforest meets the sea.
We predominately use traditional full-format, 200L, American oak ex-bourbon casks and a mix of Australian wine and fortified casks.
We lose incremental amounts of liquid during the aging process as the casks breathe in our humid subtropical environment, the casks will lose some liquid due to evaporation, affectionately known as the "angels share".
After about 3 years of maturation we begin selecting casks for bottling.
From Grain To Glass
Our heritage of Scottish distilling stems from our Cofounder and master distiller Jim McEwan, is brought to life within the coastal rainforest region of Byron Bay.
Inspired by traditional styles of Scottish whisky paired with the innovation of new world techniques and the unique subtropical environment of the Northern Rivers region is what distinguishes our whisky from other world whiskies.
Masters of brewing, Stone & Wood are tasked with the supply of our Australian malted barley.
We ferment and distill on-site, in the rainforest with mineral rich Mount Warning spring water.
Distillation
The Alchemy, "Uisce beatha", the water of life. Transforming the wash into new make spirit through the art of distillation.
Our whisky is slowly double distilled in the style of a single malt scotch whisky, but ours is affectionately known as Australian whisky.
Once the wash has been distilled through twice, the middle cut or ‘heart’ of the run is captured as new make spirit.
Our new make is exceptional. Its unique tropical aromas of pineapple, lychees and citrus are balanced with sweet cereal notes, fresh fruity characters of pear, apple with a crisp clean lingering finish and slightly oily mouth feel and texture.
The new make spirit is then ready for maturation in our chosen casks.
Rainforest Maturation
Our distillery is nestled amongst coastal rainforest in the Byron Bay hinterland of Northern Rivers region, New South Wales. Surrounded by the lush subtropical rainforest that stretches from the hinterland and continues to the most easterly point of mainland Australia. The casks breathe the sea spray air, earthy fragrance and floral notes, an incomparable freshness from where the rainforest meets the sea.
We predominately use traditional full-format, 200L, American oak ex-bourbon casks and a mix of Australian wine and fortified casks.
We lose incremental amounts of liquid during the aging process as the casks breathe in our humid subtropical environment, the casks will lose some liquid due to evaporation, affectionately known as the "angels share".
After about 3 years of maturation we begin selecting casks for bottling.
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Heritage and Provenance
Jim and Eddie set out to craft a truly unique and world-class whisky. A whisky that harnesses our distillery's unique natural environment, where the rainforest meets the sea.
How would the temperature, humidity and climatic conditions of our seaside subtropical rainforest impact the maturation of whisky? It was clear that this concept was an inspiration and must come to life. It was with this idea and our passion for whisky that our Cape Byron Single Malt Whisky journey began.
Jim McEwan, international Master Distiller and Co-Creator of Brookie’s Byron Dry Gin, returned to Australia in early 2019 and worked with Eddie to set up Cape Byron Distillery’s whisky programme.
“We crafted our new make spirit to suit our climate, knowing that it would be maturing quickly (in comparison to Scotland or colder climates in Tasmania) in this subtropical, seaside rainforest.”
- Eddie Brook, Co-founder and Creator.
For those who do not know Jim McEwan, this incredible man has been in the whisky industry for over 55 years, is internationally renowned and one of the most highly awarded and influential Scottish Master Distillers on the planet. He was previously the Master Distiller of Bowmore and Bruichladdich whisky distilleries from the Isle of Islay, Scotland. He is affectionately known as the Cask Whisperer, the Bruce Springsteen of single malt scotch whisky, a pioneer and a true legend of his craft.
From Grain to Glass
We source our malted barley from the champions of brewing and good friends just down the road from our distillery, stone and wood brewing. Australian malted barley is mixed with water to create the mash. Stone and wood seperate the solids from the sweet malty water called wort. This wort is then transported 5 mins up the road to our fermenter tanks in the distillery.
We ferment the wort into a type of beer that we call wash. After the fermentation has completed, we now have a low alcohol product, wash that we can then distill into a spirit.
Distillation
We distill 'low and slow', taking our whisky wash from a low ABV% up to a higher strength spirit.
“Micko”, approx 4500L wash still, takes our wash, a liquid similar to a beer and distils into a low proof
spirit.
“George”, our 2000L spirit still,
converts the first distillation into a spirit much higher in alcohol by volume through the 2nd distillation process.
Our two Australian made copper pot stills are affectionately named George and Micko after Eddie Brook's grandfathers. These two characters are responsible for turning our fermented grains into spirit destined for whisky.
Once the wash has been distilled through twice, the middle cut or
‘heart’ of the run is captured and then filled into our casks.
Rainforest maturation
Our distillery is nestled amongst coastal rainforest in the Byron Bay hinterland of Northern Rivers region, New South Wales. Surrounded by the lush subtropical rainforest that stretches from the hinterland and continues to the most easterly point of mainland Australia. Our whisky matures within this coastal rainforest environment. The casks breathe the sea spray air, earthy fragrance and floral notes, an incomparable freshness from where the rainforest meets the sea.
Our new-make spirit will spend the better part of its life resting in American oak ex-bourbon casks deep within our rainforest warehouse.
We prefer to use traditional full format 200L casks or bigger ex-wine casks when maturing our whisky which allows our spirit to shine through.
We lose incremental amounts of liquid during the aging process as the casks breathe in our humid subtropical environment, the evaporation is affectionately known as "angels share".
After about 3 years of maturation we begin selecting casks for bottling.
Eddie ~“Our new spirit (Whisky) will age right here on our family farm. Amongst the macadamias and rainforest, our whisky will breathe and experience the subtropical conditions found only here in the hinterland of Byron Bay. Our lush environment will offer a truly unique flavour profile.”
Private Whisky Cask Programme
Your curated cask. Your unique flavour profile.
Cape Byron ‘The Original’ Australian Single Malt Whisky Batch 007, the signature expression, aged in American oak ex-bourbon casks.
The colour of a Byron Bay sunset. The palate offers soft vanilla, creme brulee, and biscotti characters, layered over distinct notes of pear, coconut and buttery macadamia.
ABV 47%
