YOU could say whisky in in the McIntosh family’s blood, in more ways than one.
Apart from enjoying the odd winter-warming tipple, former financial advisors Stuart and Naomi McIntosh ventured into new territory with a giant leap of faith in 2013, turning to an old family tradition – whisky distilling – to forge new careers.
Just a few years later, their love affair with single malt whisky has grown and their own Somerville-made whiskies are getting noticed around the world.
The McIntosh family’s Chief’s Son Distillery had won many awards since they began 10 years ago, with the most recent being gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition for The Tanist and their Single Cask 134, and silver for a new single malt vodka.
Last year the distillery won the Tasting Australia Spirits Award Best in Class for its Single Cask 178, and gold in the World Whiskies Awards for its Single Cask 73.
It might sound like it was an easy progression, but the McIntosh’s success is testament to several years of research and investigations, including drawing on family history, speaking to experts all over the world, and trying different barrel types, malts and processes.
“What sets us apart as a distillery is that we have four different base spirits or recipes compared to many that have one base spirit,” Naomi said.
“The result is that we have up to 12 expressions of our single malt whisky, predominantly aged in French oak, ex fortified wine barrels”.
“With our extensive range of whiskies, we believe that the whisky drinker will find one, if not more, that appeals to their palate.
“We invite people to the distillery door to sample the whisky”.
Although she didn’t consider herself a whisky connoisseur before 2013, Naomi says whisky has been a common thread with the McIntosh family for centuries.
But it wasn’t until her husband Stuart and his father won an all-expenses paid trip to visit the Strathisla Distillery in Scotland in 2011 that sparked the beginnings of this local whisky distillery.
Stuart’s father Alasdair’s winning 25-word entry to a travel competition, “My grandparents passed the love of whisky through my parents to me and I want to make sure my children pass it onto their children”, sums up the family’s love and respect for whisky and the art of “slow drinking”.
Naomi said the McIntosh ancestors transformed the same ingredients, utilised the same ancient craft and derived the same level of enjoyment the family does today from the craft of whisky distilling.
“And going forward, whisky reaches so far forward past our futures, connecting through the generations.
First published in the Mornington News – 25th July 2023
