Overview
It's been a big year of news coming out of Four Pillars. Earlier this year, the Yarra Valley gin distillery announced the sale of 50 percent of its business to beer giant Lion. Now, the crew is heading north, and setting up its first permanent spot in Sydney.
Part distillery, part workshop, part small bar and part retail space, the Four Pillars Gin and Drinks Lab is set to open in early 2020 inside a 1930s warehouse on Crown Street (next to APC and across the road from Bartolo and Bills).
Headed up by James Irvine, Four Pillars' creative director of drinks, the space will be the new home for Eileen: the distillery's 70-litre still. This means small batches of gin will be made on site — and you might even be able to get in on the action.
Irvine is hoping to host masterclasses, corporate events, tastings and gin gatherings in the space, with a small bar licence (pending approval), meaning he'll be whipping up tasty Four Pillars-based cocktails for Sydney's gin lovers a few nights a week.
Matt Jones, Stu Gregor, James Irvine and Cam Mackenzie by Steven Woodburn.
If all of that isn't enough to excite you, the lab will also be a spot to pick up all of Four Pillars' made-from-gin products (we're talking marmalade, Gin Pig salami and Hunted & Gathered chocolate), merchandise, books, bar kits and, of course, the bloody good limited release Bloody Shiraz Gin.
The Four Pillars Gin and Drinks Lab is set to open at 410 Crown Street, Surry Hills, sometime in early 2020 — we'll keep you posted when we get an exact date.
Top image: Four Pillars in Healesville, Victoria.