Four Pillars Gin co-founder Stuart Gregor has been inducted into the Australian Distillers Hall of Fame. Gregor was president of Australian Distillers from 2014 to 2022.
Gregor becomes Hall of Fame inductee number six, after the four founding fathers of the modern Australian craft distilling scene were the inaugural inductees in 2022. Also inducted alongside Gregor was Lark Whisky co-founder Lyn Lark.
Gregor’s induction is recognition of his time as president of Australian Distillers, as well as the part he has played in building Four Pillars.
Four Pillars Gin was established in 2013 by Gregor and Cameron Mackenzie in the Yarra Valley and has become one of the world’s benchmark distilleries and Australia’s number one craft spirit. It was awarded International Gin Producer of the Year in 2019 and 2020 by the IWSC, and the inaugural IWSC Green Spirit Initiative Award in in October 2022.
The Hall of Fame announcements were made at the largest ever Australian Distillers conference, attended by more than 500 delegates, a far cry from the 2014 conference held at the original Starward distillery, which attracted 16 attendees.
Gregor said Australian Distillers had come a long way and still had a long way to travel.
Australian Distillers (formerly Australian Distillers Association) is the industry’s peak body. During Gregor’s tenure, membership grew tenfold from around 30 members to more than 400.
Gregor said his induction into the Hall of Fame was a ‘rare honour.’
“My time with the ADA was only made possible because I have two such awesome co-founders Cam Mackenzie and Matt Jones, who frankly freed up so much spare time for me, it was good fortune I had some industry lobbying to keep me occupied.
The day we received notification of the full $350,000 excise rebate in 2021 was a red-letter day, as was the appointment of Paul McLeay as our first CEO. Both those things have immeasurably improved the lot of every single distiller in Australia,” said Gregor.
Gregor added, “Australian Distillers is in great shape, there are great state bodies everywhere including NSW, surely we need to get Minns on the gins, and while we have much to still fight for as excise is going to top $100 per litre of alcohol this year, we also have much to celebrate.”
