Bright Distiller Reed & Co Is One of Many Regional Victoria Businesses Innovating Through a Tough Year

It’s been a challenging year for Hamish Nugent, co-founder of Reed & Co Distillery in Bright. First, he had to contend with bushfires, which caused thousands of people to flee the Victorian alpine town in January. Then the pandemic kept tourists away.

In March, the boutique distillery, which specialises in craft spirits, particularly gin, lost its primary source of income when its attached 30-seat restaurant closed. It also struggled to sell wholesale to restaurants and bars. “[That] dried up overnight as well,” Nugent says.

Even so, the chef-turned-distiller describes 2020 as a year of growth and innovation, despite all the setbacks. “[It’s been] a good time to rethink what we need to do to futureproof the business,” he says. “It’s been an interesting ride. Like anything, it’s just another challenge. In small business, it’s what you have to deal with.”

The full impact of Victoria’s two lockdowns is not yet known but it’s clear thousands of producers, shops, artists, restaurants, wineries, and distilleries have been hit hard. Regional Victorian businesses, many of which rely heavily on tourism for support, are expected to lose around $7.9 billion this year. (One way to show support is online, either directly via their websites or through platforms such as Visit Victoria’s Click for Vic.)

Nugent says before Covid-19, Reed & Co’s online store was probably the most neglected part of the business. It quickly became the driving force, though, as customers from as far away as Western Australia suddenly started placing orders. “The distillery was flat out. The only difference was that we didn’t have customers come to the door,” he says.

During the first lockdown, despite being busy with the annual grape harvest, the distillery launched virtual tastings and cocktail classes, and released six bottled cocktails, which soon became bestsellers.

“We had a lot of energy back then – I feel a bit more tired now,” Nugent says.

Reed & Co began in 2016 as an offshoot of popular eatery Tani Eat & Drink, which Nugent ran with his wife and fellow chef Rachel Reed. There, he began to experiment with distillation to manipulate the flavour of food. He realised that many of the wild botanicals he used for cooking could also be used to make gin. “I started looking into gin and was fascinated with it,” he says. “I ended up finding that I was spending more time thinking about gin than food.”

In 2017, the couple closed Tani Eat & Drink to open Reed & Co. Its flagship spirit, Remedy Gin, features wild botanicals such as eucalyptus, pine and mountain pepper foraged from the forests surrounding Bright. Other botanicals – such as apples, citrus, green tea and honey – are sourced from local producers.

The distillery also has an experimental lab – Spirit Lab. “It’s where we do lots of one-offs which may not be viable, or it may be stuff we want to play with,” says Nugent.

In 2020, Spirit Lab released its first-ever grape-based spirits, Mistelle 2020 and Gin & Juice, made with smoke-tainted grapes that had been affected by the bushfires and couldn’t be fermented.

For every successful experiment there are countless failures, but that breeds innovation, says Nugent. “It’s how we learn new things,” he says. Currently, he’s working on a grain project inspired by Japanese methods of producing shoyu, or soy sauce, using fermented soybeans, wheat and water. “We’re always looking at different angles to achieve different flavour profiles.”

Whether experimenting in the kitchen or distillery – or trying to pull a small business through multiple crises – Nugent’s adaptability has proven to be one of his strengths. He hopes people will soon be able to return to Victoria’s High Country to see his and other local business owners’ 2020 achievements firsthand, but in the meantime you can show support online.

“We have some great businesses [in Bright] and people who are doing great things, so it would be great for the local community.”

reedandcodistillery.com

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