David Vitale, a Melbourne distiller, is gaining recognition and market share abroad by changing whiskey from “dad’s drink” to something more akin to a shared table wine.
Early on, he encountered resistance since he was having trouble starting his Port Melbourne distillery.
In 2009, Mr. Vitale attempted to persuade a “high-net-worth” family friend of “a whiskey renaissance.”
The acquaintance said to Mr. Vitale, “I simply don’t see why anyone would purchase your whiskey instead of just purchasing Johnnie Walker.”
Six years later, Mr. Vitale agreed to have Diageo, the maker of Johnnie Walker, invest in and support the worldwide debut of his whiskey brand Starward.
Mr. Vitale expresses apparent joy by saying, “Johnnie Walker felt they should purchase us too. Not only did drinkers think they wanted to buy us.”
In order to “spearhead the Aussie whiskey movement in the US,” the father of three moved his family to the US in 2019.
According to Mr. Vitale, “Maybe in two years we will sell more in the US than we do in Australia.”
“When it occurs, move aside; perhaps it will be a steam train.”
It is an improbable tale for a 48-year-old who grew up in Melbourne’s northern suburbs as a member of a big Italian family, where wine was freely consumed but whiskey was only opened once a year.
According to Mr. Vitale, “We presented alcohol to our accountant for Christmas in a package.”
That was the limit of our family’s whiskey purchases.
By the late 1990s, Mr. Vitale was operating an online financial education company, but he spent his free time brewing craft beer.
He paid a tragic visit to Tasmania “on a whim.”
I entered a little whiskey bar called the Lark Distillery, which is now clearly much more well-known, Mr. Vitale said.
It struck me like a lightning bolt,’ she said. The fact that these single malt artisan whiskey included all the qualities I valued in craft beer struck me as particularly intriguing.
They spoke about geography, style, and origin, and there were a lot of them.
He spent two years studying the art of distilling whiskey at a distillery after selling his online firm, where he leveraged his experience in finance and technology to grow operations.
His “entrepreneurial brain fart” moment of “I’m going to do this” in June 2007 was the result of his far larger idea for a distinctively Melbourne brew.
His unconventional plan was to mature his whiskey in wine barrels from nearby vineyards from beginning to end.
We weren’t sure whether it would work, but like with other innovations, he continued, “you just think about what may go wrong, attempt to prevent it, and just push the boundaries and see what happens.”
I reasoned, “I’m going to age it in these wine barrels with all the chips on black and see what happens.”
What took place had a unique flavor.
We had something that was uniquely ours and couldn’t be duplicated, Mr. Vitale added.
Because their barrels originate from various countries, including Spain, Portugal, and the United States, as well as very often the barley, Starward is more Australian than Scotch is Scottish.
According to legend, whiskey takes years to ferment and age, while the ideal time in Melbourne’s environment is three to four years. As a result, Mr. Vitale’s first batch wasn’t ready until December 20, 2012.
Mr. Vitale acknowledged that when he first began out, whiskey was not at all trendy.
People weren’t drinking a lot of whiskey in 2007 since vodka was the drink du jour. Truth be told, it was probably your dad who preferred whisky, he remarked.
The product wasn’t actually that cool,
The next goal was to fill whiskey consumers’ cups with Starward rather than Johnnie Walker or any other well-known brand.
“For the first three years, it was hand-to-hand fighting,” Mr. Vitale said.
“I had been 60 days from bankruptcy for the greater part of two years when we debuted.” Simply holding on.
When you have been there for a while, people will eventually say, “Okay, I’ll give it a try,” and they are usually pleasantly pleased, which is always interesting to me. It’s almost like you have to earn your spot on the shelf.
They are actually surprised that Australia is able to produce whiskey this deliciously excellent.
Starward is now accessible in 40 US states, showing how Americans are catching on.
Mr. Vitale compared this accomplishment to entering 40 distinct European nations since each state has its unique alcohol regulations.
The reduced tax Americans put on spirits is one improvement that applies to all of them.
According to Mr. Vitale, “the US hard liquor tax structure is essentially non-interventionist.”
Literally, I could purchase a Starward bottle in Los Angeles, FedEx it to the Melbourne distillery, and it would cost less (after US taxes are deducted) than what it would cost in Australia.
With an astounding 15 top prizes at the San Francisco Spirits Awards in April, Starward is swiftly winning over judges as well.
The creation of Mr. Vitale was the first Australian to win the top honor, Distillery of the Year, beating out about 4000 international rivals to take home the highly sought-after trophy.
Even if the praise is flattering, Mr. Vitale said that the purpose of his whisky-making is to create a beverage that is particularly regional.
Additionally, he wants whiskey to be a well-liked and often used beverage, particularly in cocktails, so that it is not just reserved for special occasions and packed up in the back of the liquor cabinet.
Mr. Vitale’s vision is coming to fruition as Starward seizes the US, establishes a sizable presence in Europe and the UK, as well as one that is expanding in southeast Asia.
To that, even Johnnie Walker will raise a glass.