A NEW gin blend by Bathurst’s Ian Glen bears the name of a pioneer of distilling in the region.
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Dublin attorney Japhet White was transported to NSW in 1816 on fraud charges and his wife and four children sailed here on the same convict transport.
White was no ordinary convict, though, and soon after arriving in the colony became licensee of a Sydney pub, the Bee Hive, while also working as a clerk in the Sydney police office.
He moved his family to Bathurst in 1822 became a well-known face on the local social scene, including the role of Master of Hounds for the Bathurst Hunt in 1825.
But perhaps his greatest legacy was becoming the first licensed distiller in inland Australia, working from a site near where the Eglinton Bridge stands today.
Now Mr Glen is building on that tradition from the Stone Pine Distillery on Gormans Hill Road.
His latest tipple is a tribute to White after Mr Glen was introduced to the pioneer’s story by local historian Robin McLachlan, who did all the research into White’s life.
Mr Glen said his Japhet White Dry Gin was the result of many months of testing as he searched for the right blend of ingredients.
“The concept from the start was another gin with a new native ingredient and I finally came across saltbush which is not so much a botanical but a plant that grows in western areas,” Mr Glen said.
“I was quite intrigued by the flavour and that set me off on a tangent of working on a new gin based on saltbush.”
The result is a robust drop that comes in at 46 per cent alcohol – significantly stronger than Stone Pine’s other gins.
The gin is available from Cobb & Co Cellars and the Knickerbocker, or online at stonepinedistillery.com.au.