Sullivans Cove
Type: Distillery and brand
When French Oak HH0525 won World's Best Single Malt at the 2014 World Whiskies Awards, Sullivans Cove had only three bottles left. Most of the winning cask had already been sold.[8][5][6] It was a fitting breakthrough for a Tasmanian single malt distillery whose reputation rests on individual casks.
Founded on Hobart's waterfront in 1994, Sullivans Cove moved to Cambridge, near Hobart Airport, in 2004.[1][5] The cask number still matters as much as the name on the label.
At a glance
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia.[5] |
| Location | 1/10 Lamb Place, Cambridge, Tasmania, near Hobart Airport.[5] |
| Founded | 1994, on Hobart's waterfront.[1][2] |
| Distillery site | Cambridge since 2004.[1] |
| Raw materials | Tasmanian barley and Tasmanian water.[4][6] |
| Owner | A Melbourne family business headed by Adam Sable bought the distillery in 2016. Current legal entity and ultimate parent unconfirmed.[5][3] |
| Business status | Unconfirmed as at November 2026.[5] |
| Distilling status | Unconfirmed as at November 2026.[5] |
| Visitor access | Unconfirmed as at November 2026.[4][5] |
| Site status | Unconfirmed as at November 2026.[5] |
| Stills | Three pot stills reported after the 2024 refurbishment; source checked November 2026.[5] |
| Core range | American Oak, French Oak, Double Cask.[4][5] |
| Visitor facilities | Reported cellar door, tasting room and distiller-led tours; current access unconfirmed.[4][5] |
What Sullivans Cove is known for
At Sullivans Cove, the individual cask is the story. The producer's account published by Tasmanian Whisky Week describes single casks yielding a few hundred bottles; Broadsheet puts the average at about 450.[4][5] Each cask identifier therefore carries real weight. HH0525 identifies the French Oak whisky that won in 2014, rather than an award shared by every bottle bearing the French Oak name.[8][5]
American Oak, French Oak and Double Cask form the core range.[4][5] Oz Whisky Review also lists Special Cask, Old & Rare and Limited Editions.[3] Those names provide a useful route into the releases, but the individual bottling supplies the finer detail. For a single cask, read the cask number alongside the range name: both belong to its identity.
From the waterfront to Cambridge
Sullivans Cove was an early arrival in Tasmania's whisky revival. Bill and Lyn Lark received the island's first distilling licence since 1839 in 1992; Sullivans Cove followed in 1994 and is described as Tasmania's second-oldest whisky distillery.[9][4] Its international fame came later, but its place in that chronology is clear. For the earlier chapter, see Lark.
Story box: From Hobart's waterfront to a Cambridge distillery
- story_title: A waterfront beginning, a Cambridge home.
- founding_story: The producer's account dates the waterfront founding to 1994. The founder is not reliably established in the records checked.[1]
- turning_point: The producer's account dates the move to Cambridge to 2004, establishing the distillery at its later location.[1]
- documented_record: The producer's history records the founding year and relocation.[1]
- sources: Producer's history.
- claim_source_mapping: Founding in 1994 and Cambridge relocation in 2004: producer's history.[1]
- last_checked: 7 November 2026.
Patrick Maguire co-owned and managed the distillery from 2004 to 2016, according to Broadsheet. His experience reached back to helping the Larks bottle whisky at their kitchen table, before he worked as a still hand and distiller.[9][3] Broadsheet identifies his successor as distillery manager, Heather Tillott, as a trained winemaker, and names Adam Sable as managing director.[5]
The road to recognition was uneven. The Whisky Club describes early whisky being bottled too young, followed by a recovery in reputation as later owners gave it longer maturation.[8] Patience became part of the distillery's story. Alongside the moves, managers and equipment came the quieter decisions: how long to leave a cask, and when it was ready to bottle.
How Sullivans Cove makes whisky
The 2024 refurbishment brought a fundamental change: Sullivans Cove began mashing and fermenting on site. For much of its history, outside breweries had supplied its wash, the fermented liquid distilled into spirit.[5][3] Older accounts of brewery-supplied wash describe that earlier arrangement, not production after the renovation.
Myrtle, the original still, is an alembic Charentais still, a design associated with Cognac.[3][5] Broadsheet's account of the 2024 work describes three pot stills, including two new Forsyths stills whose traditional design copies Myrtle.[5] Whisky Magazine also reports a worm tub condenser.[6]
The reported ingredients are Tasmanian barley and Tasmanian water.[4][6] Maturation uses large casks, including 300 litre tawny casks and 200 litre bourbon casks.[6][3] Oz Whisky Review reports a further change in 2019, when single-cask releases moved away from flocking or filtration.[3] Together, these details distinguish the distillery's earlier production from the equipment and practices described in more recent accounts.
Long maturation and the 25 Years Old
Two casks filled in 1999, HH0056 and HH0010, survived to become Sullivans Cove 25 Years Old releases. Whisky Magazine records 134 bottles from HH0056 and 349 from HH0010, describing the release as the oldest single malt ever bottled in Australia.[6] The age and milestone belong to those particular casks.
Maguire, who laid down both, said that seeing two reach 25 years “is something we did not expect”.[6] The producer says the 25 Year Old was unveiled in Hobart on the anniversary of the day its cask was filled.[1]
Their history stretches back beyond Cambridge: whisky made before the move, kept through the years that followed, then bottled under its own cask identities. It is a longer view of Sullivans Cove than the award headlines alone can give, rooted in the decision to keep waiting.
The cask behind the 2014 award
French Oak HH0525 was 12 years old when it won World's Best Single Malt at the World Whiskies Awards on 21 March 2014.[6][5] It was the first whisky from outside Scotland or Japan to take the title.[8][6][5] By then, most of the bottles were gone. The Whisky Club records that the distillery had only three left.[8]
Verdict badge
- claim: Then-marketing manager Bertie Cason selected HH0525 for the 2014 World Whiskies Awards.[8][1]
- verdict: Documented
- what_the_record_shows: Both accounts identify Cason as the person who chose the cask: The Whisky Club and the producer's account.[8][1]
- evidence_against_or_gap: None found.
- earliest_known_source: Not reliably established.
- sources: The Whisky Club, Cason's selection; producer's account, Cason's selection.
- last_checked: 7 November 2026.
The response was immediate. Whisky Magazine recounts Maguire finding cars queued around the block the following morning, while orders arrived from around the world.[9] In its own account, the producer likens the result to whisky's “Judgement of Paris”.[1] The comparison captures the scale of the breakthrough; the award itself recognises one specific cask, rather than a uniform quality or style across every Sullivans Cove release.
Production and release timeline
The history runs on two tracks: changes to the working distillery and milestones for individual whiskies. The 2024 Cambridge refurbishment belongs firmly to the first, bringing production changes as well as renewed visitor spaces.[5]
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1994 | Founded on Hobart's waterfront.[1][2] |
| 1995 and 1997 | The First Edition distilled in March 1995 and bottled at two years old in March 1997, according to Oz Whisky Review.[3] |
| 2004 | Relocated to Cambridge.[1] |
| By 2008 | American Oak, French Oak and Double Cask established as the core range, according to trade accounts.[5][3] |
| 2014 | French Oak HH0525 won World's Best Single Malt at the World Whiskies Awards.[6][5] |
| 2018 | American Oak HH0351 won World's Best Single Cask Single Malt.[8] |
| 2019 | French Oak TD0217, aged 10 years, won World's Best Single Cask Single Malt.[7][8] |
| 2024 | Cambridge refurbishment brought mashing and fermentation on site and added two stills.[5] |
Visiting Sullivans Cove
The Cambridge address is 1/10 Lamb Place, near Hobart Airport.[5][1] Broadsheet describes a cellar door with a 100 seat tasting room designed by Yaron Kanor of Studio Y; the distillery listing describes tours led by distillers.[5][4] Current visitor access remains unconfirmed.
Before travelling, check the producer's website for the current location, booking requirements, accessibility and age rules for tours. If taking part in a tasting, keep servings small and measured, have water, food and breaks, and remember that spitting is normal and nobody needs to finish a glass. These measures do not remove alcohol risk. Do not drink if driving, pregnant or trying to conceive, taking medicines that interact with alcohol, living with a condition made worse by alcohol, or recovering from alcohol dependence. See the Responsible Drinking page.
Common misunderstandings
- Tasmania's second-oldest, not its first modern distillery: Lark was licensed in 1992, before Sullivans Cove's 1994 founding. The fame of the 2014 award came later.[9][4]
- The 2014 result was not Australia's first World Whiskies Awards title: Sullivans Cove American Oak won Best Other Malt in 2007, and Lark LD100 won an award in 2009. Both preceded HH0525's success.[8][4][9]
- Its wash was not always made on site: Outside breweries supplied wash before the 2024 renovation. The refurbished distillery represents a new production arrangement, not the way it had always worked.[5][3]
Where to go next
Australia's whisky distilleries offer more than a single house style. These three profiles broaden the picture, from another Tasmanian name to further accounts of Australian whisky production.
- Starward: continue with another Australian distillery profile.
- Archie Rose: read a further account of Australian whisky production.
- Hellyers Road: explore another name in Tasmania's modern distilling story.
Sources
- Sullivans Cove. A Story of True Rarity. Producer's account, undated web page, version recorded in the supplied fact sheet, November 2026. https://sullivanscove.com/pages/a-story-of-true-rarity
- City of Hobart. Homecoming: Sullivans Cove Distillery. Official council account, undated web page, version recorded in the supplied fact sheet, November 2026. https://www.hobartcity.com.au/Council/News-publications-and-announcements/Media-centre/Sullivans-Cove-Distillery-Homecoming
- Oz Whisky Review. Sullivans Cove Distillery. Trade reference, undated web page, version recorded in the supplied fact sheet, November 2026. https://ozwhiskyreview.com.au/sullivans-cove-distillery/
- Tasmanian Whisky Week. Sullivans Cove Distillery. Distillery listing in the producer's voice, undated web page, version recorded in the supplied fact sheet, November 2026. https://www.taswhiskyweek.com/sullivans-cove-distillery/
- Broadsheet. Thirty Years On, Sullivans Cove Whisky Is Better Than Ever. Trade feature, publication date not supplied, version recorded in the supplied fact sheet, November 2026. https://www.broadsheet.com.au/featured/30-years-sullivans-cove-new-distillery
- Whisky Magazine. Major milestone for world whisky with the launch of Sullivans Cove 25 Years Old. Trade report, publication date not supplied, version recorded in the supplied fact sheet, November 2026. https://whiskymag.com/articles/major-milestone-for-world-whisky-with-the-launch-of-sullivans-cove-25-years-old/
- National Liquor News, The Shout. Another World Whiskies Award win for Sullivans Cove. Trade report, publication date not supplied, version recorded in the supplied fact sheet, November 2026. https://theshout.com.au/national-liquor-news/another-world-whiskies-award-win-for-sullivans-cove/
- The Whisky Club. Sullivans Cove French Oak HH0525 Ballot. Trade account, undated web page, version recorded in the supplied fact sheet, November 2026. https://thewhiskyclub.com.au/our-whiskies/sullivans-cove-french-oak-hh0525
- Whisky Magazine. “I just want people to drink Tassie whisky”: The trailblazers behind Tasmania's flourishing whisky community. Trade feature, publication date not supplied, version recorded in the supplied fact sheet, November 2026. https://whiskymag.com/articles/i-just-want-people-to-drink-tassie-whisky-the-trailblazers-behind-tasmanias-flourishing-whisky-community/
This article is desk research based on the supplied verified fact sheet, distinguishing producer accounts from council and trade reporting; it includes no site visit or first-hand tasting.
Last checked: November 2026