When we sat down with Luke Whearty, the co-owner of world class bar, Byrdi, to create this expression of winter, the concept was fascinating for us to execute.
Winter is a time commonly associated with sparseness and a lack of availability of ingredients and produce, and while this is not the same for all climates, its generally true for where Byrdi is based in Melbourne.
Our methodology centred around how we can prolong the life of ingredients - fermentation and preservation - and how we could use those techniques to create a truly unique representation of Winter.
Smoking meats, eggs and fruits has been a popular preservation method for thousands of years, and this gin pays homage to that technique.
We've smoked multiple elements of this gin, from cardamom to juniper, and then macerated smoked Davidson plums directly into the distillate for six weeks before bottling to create a gin utterly different from anything else. Smoky, robust, woody and tropical.
An icy G&T with rosemary is devine with this gin, or for those looking for a little more cocktail intrigue, a Martinez takes this gin to new heights.
Smoked Plum(e)
Based on the classic whisky highball, this unique cocktail showcases the incredible flexibility of plums, preservation, and Australian winter.
This beautiful combination of Plume, plum stone amaretto, smoked plum soda and charcoal, provides an ultimately refreshing winter highball.
You can try this drink exclusively at Byrdi during the winter months of the year.