Overview
If all you want for Christmas this year, or at any time of the year, is to make your own gin, Brisbane's latest distillery is here with excellent news. First, Comiskey Distillery has revealed that it exists, opening on Friday, November 25 just in time for 2022's festive season. Secondly, as well as whipping up vodka, rum, bourbon and whisky itself, it also hosts gin-making workshops where you can craft your own 500-millilitre bottle of spirits, then take it home to drink.
The latest addition to Comiskey Group's Eatons Hill setup, settling in next to the Eatons Hill Hotel on South Pine Road, Comiskey Distillery will offer cocktail classes as well, and also operate as spirit and cocktail training facility for the company's staff. And, obviously, it's where a heap of booze will be made — for use at Comiskey sites, and to buy at them as well.
The Comiskey portfolio includes Eatons Hill Hotel, Sandstone Point Hotel, Samford Hotel and Beachmere Hotel, plus bottle-os, so there'll be no shortage of places to pick up a tipple. That's due to happen from early 2023, and the new distillery will sell it online from then, too.
Overseeing the booze-making: award-winning Master Distiller Colleen Walters, who boasts more than 12 years experience in food and spirits. She'll be guiding a range of beverages made in a 1000-litre copper still onsite, which takes pride of place in the space. Take one of those gin workshops, though, and you'll be using a mini traditional Alembic copper still, and picking from 100-plus botanicals.
Announcing Comiskey Distillery, Comiskey Group Director Rob Comiskey said that "tThis really is a passion project of ours, something my dad, brother and I have talked about for a long time. Having owned pubs and bottle shops for many years, it feels like a natural progression for us. We've been actively working on this project for over a year and are very much looking forward to seeing the concept come to life."
Eleven years after the Eatons Hill Hotel opened its doors, this new addition also forms part of a big renovation of the Harry Brown bottle shop — where patrons can access Comiskey Distillery. The revamp is underway now, with the bottle-o still trading while it happens. Decor-wise, expect 300 authentic wine barrels, antique trucks and exposed brick touches, as well as a European-marketplace look and a glass window to see the the distillery's still.
Also in the works for Comiskey Group: a new 150-hectare music and camping festival site 80 minutes north of Brisbane, as well as a big new Sunshine Coast music venue and hotel next to an 11-hectare parkland.
Find Comiskey Distillery next door to at Eatons Hill Hotel, 646 South Pine Road, Eatons Hill.