Old Kempton Distillery

Old Kempton Distillery was founded by a group of friends who shared a love of whisky and a belief that matching passionate people with the finest Tasmanian ingredients would naturally yield exceptional whisky.

Old Kempton is dedicated to being Tasmania’s Artisan Distillery and sources high quality ingredients and distilling using traditional hands-on methods to create a bright and elegant whisky spirit.

The entire range of spirits – gin, liqueurs and Single Malt whisky – is proudly made on site at Dysart House in Kempton. Old Kempton utilises native Australian ingredients including Tasmanian Apple Cider, lavender from Port Arthur Lavender Farm and plenty of native botanicals across the gin range. Their single malt is created using only Tasmanian grown barley and water.

Located in the small town of Kempton Tasmania, Old Kempton calls Dysart House it’s home. An 1840’s coaching inn, Dysart House is immaculately preserved and shares a detailed look into the history of Tasmania and Kempton. The house has a variety of cozy rooms in which you can enjoy a tasting paddle or something delicious from the house-made menu while learning the stories of Old Kempton and the convicts that built this beautiful home.

Old Kempton’s House Style is built around filling its spirit into a combination of carefully sourced Australian Tawny, Tasmanian Pinot Noir, and American Bourbon casks. Additionally it fills a small amount of different and interesting other cask types to support the special release program. This also allows the distillers to develop knowledge around how different casks impact the spirit and can be used to create different flavour profiles in the whisky.

The Distillery works closely with wineries and cooperages to identify casks that suit the Old Kempton spirit style ensuring the production of the best whisky possible.

With Pinot casks, this means working with wine makers to select casks that will impart both the vibrant berry fruit characteristics desired from the wine as well as the complex aromas, flavours, and tannin structure wanted from the French Oak.

For Tawny, a cask is chosen because of the great fortified it has held and for the sweet and complex aromas it exhibits, which imparts rich fruit cake style flavours to the whisky.

In the selection of Bourbon casks the Distillery works with cooperages and importers to identify bourbon producers that use mash bills that work with the American Oak to complement the spirit style. The goal is to produce nuanced vanilla, coconut, and leather aromas and flavours in the whisky.

The Distillery also works with cooperages, such as Transwood in Tasmania, to re-cooper the casks and develop programs for the shaving, toasting, and charring. This ensures the desired flavour profile is developed from each cask type, creating the perfect vessel for the maturation of the Old Kempton spirit in the climate of Tasmania's Southern Midlands.

Open 7 days a week, from 10am until 4pm, the dedicated team at Old Kempton cannot wait to share their spirits and stories with you.