Tasmanian Whisky Dream Almost Clipped Scotland
Unknown to most whisky enthusiasts, Tasmania entered into the spirit business ahead of Scotland. The Australian town would have become the world’s largest whisky distillers were it not for colonial politics and fear of insufficient supplies.
As early as 1822, Tasmanians received a green light to produce single malt whisky commercially. The colonial governor at the time, Lachlan Macquarie, was convinced that the colony would make whisky one way or another and chose profits over control. The result was both an economic and social success. Within six years more than 30 distilleries were fully operational.
Remarkably, Lachlan Macquarie had no idea he was setting his country in motion to wage a global battle for the top whisky-producing country. Scotland did not start pricing whisky until two years later in 1824. A tax law, the Excise Act was passed in 1823 which granted licenses to distilleries.
Even though the first record of Scottish whisky goes back to 1494, it was not made a legally commercial business. Likewise in Tasmania where distilleries were kept underground until the Lachlan Macquarie colonial law.
According to Tasmanian historic documents, in 1822, Thomas Haigh Midwood launched the first legal distillery in Australia. He named it Sorell Distillery and built it on owned land located in Hobart. His move triggered the whisky rush of 1822.
Yet, good things never seem to last forever. When a new governor, Sir John Franklin, took over the colony, his wife Lady Jane Franklin found no place for whisky distilleries on her agenda. Driven by fear of barley shortage, she introduced sweeping laws that abolished the Tasmanian whisky industry for over 150 years.
According to a statement from Lady Jane Franklin, “I would prefer barley be fed to pigs than it be used to turn men into swine”. Although the government made changes to the old colonial law in 1901, it was conducive to commercial whisky production. Thus, nothing really changed.
However, in 1992, the government reinstated the whisky law allowing for Australia to legally distill and bottle whisky again.