Meet Young Henrys Head Distiller, Carla Daunton
Love the gin you’re in…
Our much-loved Noble Cut Gin landed a Gold Medal at San Fransisco’s World Spirit Awards over the weekend, and we couldn't be prouder!
We like to think of Young Henrys Noble Cut as a brewer’s gin, blending techniques and flavours from both brewing and distillation. Just like our beer, the base of this gin is 100% grain - no additives, adjuncts or agents.
Behind every great gin, there’s a great distiller. Ours? A crafty, passionate, no bull-shit boss who’s been kicking ass ever since she joined our brew team in 2018.
Meet our head distiller, Carla Daunton…
Our Noble Cut Gin just landed a Gold medal at the 2020 San Francisco World Spirits Awards, the team are stoked, I can’t imagine how YOU feel?
I was beyond stoked and very shocked! I ran straight to my partner just repeating "omg omg omg" poor man thought I'd won lotto! Haha!
You weren’t always distilling though, what made you want to move from brewing beer to distillation?
I learnt distillation in my previous role at an ethanol facility before shifting to brewing here at Young Henrys. I wanted to experience craftsmanship and definitely got it here! When the previous distiller left for other opportunities I was offered my dream job of being both a brewer and distiller. I’m so spoiled, I get to do everything I love!
“I’m so spoiled, I get to do everything I love!”
When you took over as Head Distiller, what (if any) changes did you make?
We were in a period of increased demand so I got to focus on increasing production and maintaining a high, consistent quality with some additional accountability for myself. I also did a bit of refining of the recipe, but didn't have to do much as it was already solid.
How would you say our Noble Cut Gin has matured recently?
The still is really hitting a solid stride, she's pumping out great gin time and time again. On top of that, in accounting for variances in the botanicals used, it's really allowed the gorgeous botanicals infused into the spirit to be well balanced. The ability to maintain that high quality despite doing small batches is key in ensuring an enjoyable spirit for both the gin lover and for those who didn't even know we distill but who know us for the stellar beer we brew.
Is there an essential element to our gin recipe, whether that be an ingredient, direction or feel, that you try to keep consistent when tweaking the recipe?
Apart from the enigma hops (which is used both in brewing and in gin) I really enjoy the Australian botanicals we use that make this a very refreshing and easily appreciated spirit. The lemon myrtle is really zesty and refreshing, the pepperberry adds a complex zinging sweetness that blends well with the savoury and herbal base flavours of the other amazing botanicals we use. I enjoy how harmonious the aroma and flavours are and how easy drinking it is.
What do you think sets us apart from other Australian Gins?
I think being brewers, we really enjoy interesting flavour profiles and look for ways to incorporate “new world” with the “traditional” in a way that draws out the best of both. In brewing you really only have 4 ingredients (water, grain, yeast & hops), but it's the variety and artful combination of those individual ingredients that give you the incredible range of styles we have available. You learn how to tease out the very best of the components, what works and what doesn't. Distilling is pretty wild, you can distill almost anything you can think of but ensuring a well balanced blend of both flavours and aromas is essential to produce a really enjoyable new world gin.
“Distilling is pretty wild, you can distill almost anything you can think of but ensuring a well balanced blend of both flavours and aromas is essential to produce a really enjoyable new world gin.”
What’s something you’re keen to explore for our Noble Cut?
There are few ideas I've been brewing that could see some fun limited releases in the future, one in particular is coming out soon and is VERY exciting. We've had a gin ageing in a gorgeous ex-American Rye barrel that is tasting extraordinary. I can't wait for you to be able to try it!
What’s an interesting fact about Gin or distilling that we may not know about?
This is a hard question, I reckon the fact gin is super old is really interesting. The first description of juniper berries being used with alcohol (the primary component of gin) was in 70 a.d. what mad genius thought of that? It was a medicinal tonic of course, but gin's been around for a long time and for good reason!
What’s your ideal situation when sippin’ on a Noble Cut?
Either as a gin and tonic after a long day of distilling, in the tasting bar on a Friday with my colleagues, or as a gin and soda out in the hammock on a warm Sunday with my obnoxious dog on my lap.
Carla sat down with James Atkinson from Drinks Adventures podcast late last year chatting all things gin and her career in distilling. Listen back here.
You can snag yourself a bottle of our award-winning Noble Cut Gin from our online store right now. Best enjoyed with a slice of grapefruit, twig of lemon thyme and of course, good mates.
Noble Cut Gin via Yeah Rad
