Loch Brewery & Distillery

In the Gippsland Hills village of Loch, where red brick speaks of permanence and purpose, Craig Johnson and Melinda Davies found their calling in 2014 within the walls of a century-old bank building. The structure that once safeguarded the community's currency now nurtures a different kind of wealth—liquid gold that flows from copper and time.

The transformation speaks to Australia's whisky revolution: taking what exists and reimagining it entirely. Where bank tellers once counted notes, alembic copper pot stills now breathe with ancient rhythm, their design unchanged across seven centuries of distilling wisdom. Johnson and Davies chose these traditional vessels deliberately, understanding that some innovations improve with age while others are perfect from the start.

Water flows from the Gippsland Hills themselves, carrying the mineral signature of Victoria's eastern ranges. This is not Scotland's soft Highland streams or Kentucky's limestone-filtered springs, but something distinctly Australian—water that has traveled through volcanic soils and ancient granite, picking up character along the way.

The distillery's approach reveals the pioneering spirit that defines Australian whisky. Rather than simply copying established methods, Johnson and Davies craft three distinct malt spirit profiles from their core beer recipes, each one destined for different cask finishes. This ensures that no two batches emerge identical—a philosophy that embraces variation rather than standardization.

By 2018, four years after those first fires were lit beneath the copper, their inaugural single malt whisky was ready. The timing reflects Australia's accelerated maturation, where intense seasonal swings push spirits to develop faster than their northern hemisphere cousins. Summer heat expands the wood, winter cool contracts it, and the whisky breathes deeper with each cycle.

The cellar door opens Friday through Sunday, welcoming visitors to witness this alchemy firsthand. Here, surrounded by the original brick walls and beneath pressed tin ceilings, the marriage of old and new continues. Each bottle represents not just whisky, but the audacious Australian belief that excellence can emerge from anywhere—even a former bank in a Gippsland village where tradition and innovation shake hands across centuries.