Five years ago, three friends decided to start making gin when there were only 10 local brands in the market. Kim Berry talks to the founders of Never Never Distilling Co on how they are keeping ahead of the pack.
Never Never Distilling Co was founded in 2017 by long-time friends George Georgiadis, Tim Boast, and Sean Baxter. Since then, competition has been fierce with the explosion of small independent distilleries all jostling for space on the shelf and consumer loyalty.
Georgiadis is managing director, Boast is director of Distilling and Operations, and Baxter is brand director.
Georgiadis says winning World’s Best Classic Gin at the 2019 World Gin Awards helps in terms of brand awareness and reputation. At the 2022 awards, Never Never was awarded World’s Best London Dry.
“It’s helped us maintain our position as Australia’s most highly awarded gin brand. We really pack our gins full of botanical oils. More flavour makes better gin and better gin makes better drinks, so that’s our mantra. We’ve always pushed the boundaries,” he says.
And while Never Never was receiving accolades for its gin, so too was its master distiller and co-founder, Tim Boast, who was crowned World’s Best Distiller at the same awards last year.
The team says innovation is at their core, along with embracing opportunities to collaborate with others to develop one-of-a-kind gins.
Boast says inspiration can come from many sources, but when collaborating with other creative partners, their ideas provide the springboard to develop something “exciting and delicious”.
Never Never partnered with Society Restaurant in Melbourne to create the Oyster Shell Gin, which Boast says was built for a savoury martini, with Kangaroo Island oyster shell paired with waxflower, saltbush, and round mint.
The distillery’s collaboration with Four Seasons Hong Kong resulted in its Argo Gin. Working with a tea consultant, Boast developed a gin matured in vermouth-seasoned ex-chardonnay barrels with aromatic Shou Mai, Oolong and Fu Ding teas.
Co-founder and brand director Sean Baxter says the goal is always to deliver an exceptional drinking experience and that the team find the best way of doing that is having a purpose for the variety front of mind.
“Our Dark Series Releases are really the engine room for all new product development at Never Never Distilling and while there certainly is a significant amount of ‘throwing the proverbial at a wall to see what sticks’, there are still some well-worn combinations that will continue to deliver flavour in exciting ways,” Baxter says.
Boast adds, “We also take a lot of inspiration from the kitchen, flavours that work well together in different dishes will often translate wonderfully in a gin or bottled cocktail. Our Panettone Negroni is a massive hit because the flavour aligns with a well-known Italian sweet treat and inspires through that nostalgic connection.”
All in the process
One thing that sets Never Never apart is that it distils juniper three ways to give more depth and complexity to the product.
Boast explains the technique is not common. “Infusing the juniper in three separate ways into our gin isn’t a standard process at all. It’s more expensive and labour intensive, however it’s a process that highlights the complexity of the juniper berry when it’s turned into gin and tonics and classic cocktails.”
Baxter adds, “Our Triple Juniper Process is important to deliver the ultimate flavour bomb. When we started producing, we always wanted to cause a stir with the gin we were making. By concentrating flavour to the highest level, we give ourselves the best possible chance of creating a gin that would work with anything you threw at it.”
From that foundation, Boast adds a delicate balance of botanicals to complement the classic juniper driven gin profile: lemon and lime peel to add citrus; orris and angelica root to provide floral and savoury notes; cinnamon bark for warmth; liquorice root for sweetness; and Tasmanian pepper berry.
Move to McLaren Vale
The distillery recently moved from Port Adelaide to McLaren Vale, with the new site housing its 1000-litre Carl still from Germany called Nancy (named after Boast’s gin-loving grandmother), its original 200-litre still, Wendy, and opening a cellar door. Nancy can produce about 2000 bottles.
The move has enabled Never Never to counter the two biggest energy consumables in distilling – power and water – and other production by-products in a sustainable way.
Boast explains, “Our stills are powered by the sun, there is a large solar panel system on the roof that provides the power to operate the still.
“The water for the condenser is recycled onto the lawn and surrounding vineyards so it doesn’t go to waste. Raw materials are collected by a green composter and turned into fertiliser.
“As we scale, we continue to take sustainability considerations through every element of packaging, from glass, to label to stopper.”
Looking ahead
“By its very nature, small batch distillation is an expensive undertaking so many Australian gins sit at a higher price point. This certainly might be a key concern as inflation and cost of living rises, but we’ve also seen gin consumers actively seeking out better quality of product and the premium end of the market will continue to grow,” Georgiadis says.
For Never Never, performing consistently well on the international stage – being recognised on the awards circuit, and expanding into new export markets (France, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland, Hungary, and Taiwan in the last 12 months) – makes the future even more exciting.
The team says they will continue to develop collaborative products and have a couple of “top-secret releases in the works”.
Georgiadis says while the essence of distillation and key production methods largely remain unchanged, as they have for hundreds (even thousands) of years, there is still scope for exciting flavour innovations and creative ingredient selections to captivate gin lovers – and that’s just what Never Never intends to keep on doing.
This article originally featured in the April/May 2023 edition of Food & Drink Business magazine.
