From Passion to Profession: Distilling the Hillmartin Gin Story.

What began as a creative outlet during Melbourne’s 2020 COVID lockdowns has now evolved into a thriving – and award-winning – distillery for Gavin and Amy Shaw.

From their picturesque five-acre property in Plenty, Victoria, the father-daughter duo have grown Hillmartin Gin to now be stocked in over 120 bars, restaurants and pubs around Melbourne.

A seven spiced chai gin? A single vineyard pinot noir gin? Why not! Gavin and Amy are on a mission to make everyone a gin lover.

A serendipitous start.

When Gavin Shaw was chatting with one of his friends on the phone during COVID, he didn’t realise he was about to take the first step towards a dramatic career change. Despite a background in science and a passion for good food and good drinks, the idea of creating a gin brand wasn’t really on Gavin’s radar to begin with.

“The business started off really as a hobby,” he recalls. “Prior to Hillmartin Gin, I had another business, and it meant I traveled a lot. When COVID hit and we couldn’t travel, I was spending a lot more time at home and looking for a way to keep busy.”

Gavin’s passion for crafting unique gins started to take shape during a conversation with a friend. “I was lamenting the fact that if I were to plant grapes with the intention of making wine, I’d be dead before I made anything decent,” he laughs. “And my mate said, ‘Why don’t you buy a gin still? You can run it in the morning and drink the gin in the afternoon if you want.’ What a great idea, I thought. Because who doesn’t love a good gin?”

Once he’d acquired his shiny new still, Gavin started out experimenting with different botanicals in the family shed, but admits his first few batches weren’t to everyone’s taste. “I was thinking I was making fabulous gin and Amy told me I was going to kill somebody. Thankfully, it’s come a long way since then.”

A family affair.

With a background in finance and digital customer acquisition, Amy was busy working in the corporate world until a less-than-polished Instagram post made her realise her father needed her marketing assistance.

“Before Amy joined, I did a post on Instagram one day, and I reckon about three seconds later the phone rang,” Gavin chuckles. “Amy said, ‘Dad, I have a plan. Step away from the computer. I’ll handle the Instagram from now on.’ So I’ve left it to her since then. She pretty much runs the business these days. I just make gin and do what I’m told.”

Crafting excellence.

Hillmartin Gin has made its mark on Australia’s spirits scene with a lineup of gins that range from timeless classics to contemporary twists and unique innovations.

For example, The Seven Spice Chai Gin combines traditional botanicals with warming spices to create a one-of-a-kind blend that’s smooth and aromatic. “Instead of milk like you’d have in a chai latte, we finish it off with a wildflower honey. It really does taste like chai,” explains Gavin.

Gavin and Amy’s dedication to quality and innovation has now earned them national and international recognition.

“Last year, our Seven Spice Chai Gin was judged Australia’s Best Contemporary Gin at the World Gin Awards in London,” Gavin says. “We also picked up gold for our London Dry Gin at the same event

the previous year. That was a bit of a shock to us – it’s a big award to win.”

Work hard, play hard.

Building a brand in the craft spirits industry is no small feat, and Gavin and Amy have embraced the challenges head on.

“You work really hard,” Gavin says. “Starting out, it’s almost hard not to work seven days a week in this industry because a lot of the promotional stuff is on weekends. So throughout the week, we’re making gin and running the business, and on weekends, we’re often at food and wine shows, gin shows, markets, promotional events, you name it. Good thing it’s a really fun industry. We’re fortunate to call our passion our profession.”

To help manage the workload, Gavin and Amy have recently expanded the team. “We’ve hired a full-time sales rep and someone to do the markets for us,” Gavin shares. “You can’t work seven days forever. It’s important to get a break.”

Smiling and saving with Zeller.

From humble experiments in the backyard shed to now winning international awards and being stocked all over Victoria, Hillmartin Gin’s growth has been exceptional. Alongside this expansion came the need for efficient systems to keep the payments side of things running smoothly.

“We were using a competitor for payment processing, but Amy came back from an event one day and said, ‘Hey Dad, one of the other vendors said he’s paying much lower fees than we are. We should look into it.’ That’s when we switched to Zeller,” Gavin explains. “The fees are significantly lower, and the terminals are very easy to use, so it’s a win-win.”