Settlers Spirits
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Boutique McLaren Vale distillery founded in 2018 by Rowland and Shelley Short. Acquired by iconic South Australian winery d'Arenberg in June 2021, now operating from within the d'Arenberg Cube complex. Produces single malt whisky distilled from locally grown barley and aged in restored port barrels in their McLaren Vale distillery. Also produces 13 flavoured gins, rum, vodka and liqueurs with nationwide Australian distribution. Gin blending masterclass experiences available at the cellar door. The wine-to-whisky pipeline — using McLaren Vale port barrels — exemplifies the Australian whisky identity.
Production Details
The Settlers Spirits Tale
In the rolling hills of McLaren Vale, where Mediterranean sun meets Southern Ocean winds, Settlers Spirits began as one couple's vision in 2018. Rowland and Shelley Short chose this wine country not despite its viticultural heritage, but because of it. Here, where shiraz vines had claimed the terra rossa soil for generations, they saw opportunity in the marriage of grain and grape.
The distillery draws its water from McLaren Vale's aquifers, the same source that feeds the region's celebrated vineyards. This water carries the mineral signature of ancient seabeds, filtered through limestone and ironstone that gives the surrounding soil its distinctive red blush. In the stillhouse, copper pot stills transform locally grown barley into new-make spirit, each batch carrying the essence of South Australian grain and McLaren Vale's unique terroir.
When d'Arenberg's Chester Osborn acquired the operation in June 2021, he relocated it within his architectural marvel, the d'Arenberg Cube. This seven-story geometric wonder, perched among the vines, now houses both wine and whisky production under one striking roof. The move wasn't mere convenience—it embodied the Australian whisky revolution's core principle: innovation through integration.
The real alchemy happens in the barrel hall, where restored port barrels tell the complete McLaren Vale story. These casks once held fortified wines, their staves saturated with decades of grape essence. Now they cradle maturing whisky, creating a liquid dialogue between vine and grain that defines Australian whisky's emerging identity. The intense South Australian heat accelerates maturation, concentrating flavors in years rather than decades.
Standing in the Cube's stillhouse, visitors witness this wine-to-whisky pipeline in action. Steam rises from copper stills while, floors below, port barrels rest in climate-controlled silence. The operation produces thirteen flavored gins alongside single malt, rum, and vodka—a diversity that speaks to Australian distilling's experimental spirit and refusal to be constrained by Old World conventions.
Settlers Spirits represents more than craft distilling; it embodies Australia's confidence in reimagining tradition. In McLaren Vale's unique microclimate, where wine country meets whisky ambition, the future of Australian spirits continues to unfold, one barrel at a time.