Darren Peck, Head Distiller
|
 John McDougall, Consultant Distiller
|
|
|
|
Our Craft
Over six generations of craftsmanship in winemaking, blending and aging passed down through bloodlines has allowed Morris of Rutherglen to truly master the creation of extraordinary flavour in our Australian Single Malt Whisky.
At Morris we have been making world renowned fortified wines since 1859, a tradition that still carries on today led by head wine maker David Morris. For many years a spirits still originally used to make fortified wines laid dormant at the heart of our Rutherglen winery. In 2016, we decided to bring her back to life and started to experiment and research with spirit making, using local grain, water and aging the whisky in barrels sourced from the family winery.
After a few years in a barrel we began to experiment with finishing our whisky in the some of the amazing Morris fortified casks that we are fortunate enough to have access to. We soon learnt that it was these barrels that would gift us with remarkable flavours to create a uniquely Australian Whisky experience.
Our team
Collectively our team has decades of experience in producing whisky, and perhaps most importantly crafting distinct and unique flavour.
From 2016, when we founded the distillery the team has been led by John McDougall, one of the world’s most renowned whisky makers with experience consulting in all of the traditionally recognised regions of Scotland for over 25 distilleries and brands including;. Balvenie, Laphroaig and Springbank. Darren Peck, is our resident Head Distiller and with 25 years of experience in the alcohol industry, has worked under the tutelage of McDougall for the last five years. The late Dr Jim Swan, described as the ‘Einstein of whisky’ for his technical expertise and has extensive experience working with renowned brands, was a key consultant.
Barley
We create a unique MORRIS Whisky style that speaks to our home in Rutherglen. Made with nothing but 100% Australian premium malted barley; a blend of Westminster and Gairdner. Both are brewed and fermented in our family owned brewery for total quality control.
Distillation
We use the original still, which was made in the 1930s in Adelaide and installed at the Morris of Rutherglen site in 1941. It has been meticulously restored and in recognition of its awakening after decades of slumber, the still has been named “Aurora”, a nod to the princess in Sleeping Beauty.
Pure, filtered water from the Snowy Mountains is used throughout the production process.
Barrels + Maturation
The barrels used for maturation are a combination of French and American oak wine barrels sourced from our family owned wineries in the Barossa and Coonawarra regions of South Australia. They are prepared by hand at our private cooperage to a specific method, which imparts the unique Morris of Rutherglen flavour profile.
Finishing
Our single malt whiskies are skillfully finished in hand selected fortified wine barrels from the famous Morris of Rutherglen winery; some of which have held the world’s most highly awarded fortified wines. It is the art in our finishing technique that creates the unique and distinctive MORRIS Whisky taste, and allows us to experiment with depth of flavour imparted from these special barrels.