When the coronavirus pandemic first hit earlier this year, local distiller Ian Glen was left to making hand sanitiser to keep himself occupied.
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His regular business with Stone Pine Distillery had slowed dramatically due to the forced closure of bars and clubs across NSW.
But now business is busier than ever, especially when it comes to local trade.
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"I'm pleasantly surprised with how things are going. I wouldn't have predicted it, that's for sure," he said.
"Compared to how everything was going back in April, things have gone back to busier than normal actually.
"Winter is typically our quietest period but we've probably had one our busiest winters, in terms of sales."
I'm pleasantly surprised with how things are going.
- Bathurst distiller Ian Glen
Stone Pine Distillery usually ships it stock all across NSW and Australia, but Mr Glen said he's found sales picking up at a local level.
"I think people's habits have changed, buying wise, when they realised they couldn't necessarily get to pubs," he said.
"We're doing a lot more sales to bottle shops and on the internet.
"People are drinking more at home, there's no doubt about it, but local trade has picked up massively.
"While we're not shipping it off round the country, we've never been busier in terms of our cellar door and the local bottle shop trade. It's been very strong."
Stone Pine Distillery has not continued making hand sanitiser, with Mr Glen saying it was a one-off to help fill the shortage in supply.
"We plugged that gap for a little while. It was never going to be a long term thing for us," he said.
Stone Pine Distillery was established back in 2008, being situated on the historic homestead of Merembra at Gormans Hill.
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