James Greig’s Wildflower Distillery to release new whisky

Gold Coast entrepreneur James Greig’s Wildflower Distillery is set to introduce a new spirit tomorrow, just in time for World Whisky Day.

Having conquered the gin space, Greig’s Wildflower Distillery will debut its own whisky product dubbed Cask Project Whisky which has been carefully crafted and left to age in an Australian Shiraz oak barrel.

At a launch event tomorrow at Wildflower’s Burleigh Heads distillery, whisky lovers will get the opportunity to taste the new product and take home a one-of-a-kind crystal decanter from a selection collected by Greig and the team from antique shops all over Queensland.

Greig, who is also the co-founder of venue booking platform iVvy and website building tool Bloomtools, says the whisky’s flavour is ‘rich’, ‘creamy’ and ‘sweet’.

“This is our first whisky that’s been in the barrel for over three years. It’s been made with a Shiraz cask, which means it’s got a rich, creamy texture to the whisky which is just beautiful,” says Greig, who won the 2022 Gold Coast Young Entrepreneur Award for the Digital Disruptor category and was a finalist in the 2022 Australian Young Entrepreneur Awards.

“We’ve been going to all of the old antique shops in Queensland and buying all of the old crystal decanters. The idea is that when someone comes in and buys whisky, they can choose a decanter and help extend the story of this thing that might’ve existed in the 1940s and 50s, and give it a new life.”

Beyond being a great example of reusing perfectly acceptable existing goods and proof of the distillery’s commitment to sustainability, Greig says all of the crystal decanters have their own unique story.

“In one instance, this lady back in the 1960s - the company she was working for couldn’t pay her so they gave her decanters instead of payments and she would carry these decanters around,” he said.

“Another lady, she didn’t have kids but she wanted someone else to enjoy the decanters so she gave them to us.

“They’ve all got their own neat stories from where they might’ve come from.”

The founder adds that the flavour is unique considering the barrels used to age the whisky are Australian shiraz barrels.

“Overseas distilleries are mostly using Sherry barrels, but these are barrels that come from wineries here in Australia that once held Shiraz, and that’s what’s giving it some of its flavour,” he said.

The release of the new product comes after Wildflower scored a national distribution deal with retailer Coles (ASX: COL), which landed the company’s Gold Coast-made spirits on the shelves of Liquorland, First Choice and Vintage Cellars.