The spirit that drives Kristy's passion

VISIONARY owner of Killara Distillery Kristy Lark-Booth has a deep-rooted connection to the world of distilling.

Passionate about using locally grown ingredients in her creations, Kristy is now making her mark in the industry by growing her own.

Ms Lark-Booth is no stranger to distilleries, having grown up around her parents’ distillery—­Lark, where she worked up until they sold the business 12 years ago. 

After the sale, Kristy worked in consulting before realising she was ready to start her own venture. 

“I’m really proud of what my family and I achieved at Lark, that was my history and Killara is most definitely my future,” she said.

By 2016, Kristy had taken the leap and founded Killara Distillery. 

“I guess you could say I had distilling running through my veins, so when the opportunity arose to start my own distillery, I jumped at it,” she said.

Upon starting the business, Ms Lark-Booth was lucky to get both her license and her still within a short period of time and was able to start distilling almost straight away.

She started off at an industrial property in Goodwood before buying her dream location with enough land to grow her own produce.

Today, Killara Distillery resides on a 10ha block at Richmond Tasmania where Ms Lark-Booth already has plenty of her own produce growing to use in her creations. 

She distils Tasmanian gins and whiskies, Tasmanian vodka distilled with pepperberries and lemon and, Kristy’s personal favourite, the Bush Liqueur which she says pairs perfectly with ginger beer.

The distillery’s top paddock holds the “gin garden” where juniper berries (gins base) grow, along with apples, plums, feijoas, and a variety of stone fruits.

There is also a herb garden, featuring orris root from irises, lavender, chamomile, angelica root, sweet Sicily root, and various types of mint to name a few.

As the distillery grows, Ms Lark-Booth remains dedicated to cultivating a diverse range of botanicals for her spirits.

The goal is to be as self-sustainable as possible by growing most of what they need to produce spirits on the property. 

If the ingredients she needs aren’t grown on the property she is able to source her ingredients from local growers who she is pleased to support. 

“We really want to concentrate on growing up the gin garden, planting more and really get our gardens up and humming.”

“As the garden develops, we’ll be able to take garden tours and really take people on that educational experience so they can see how the plants are grown, what part of the plant is used whether it’s the fruit, the seed or the root.”

“I’m really big on putting back into the land and looking after it so that it is able to provide for us. It makes sense to work with the land rather than to just take from it.”

Ms Lark-Booth says most gins feature between eight and sixteen botanicals, but some can include as many as forty. 

Killara’s “Apothecary Gin” includes 10 botanicals, including juniper, lemon, orange, chamomile, pepperberry, olive leaf, and coriander. 

“The plan is to continue to grow a whole range of native botanicals, like river mint, that can be utilised for other products .”

Ms Lark-Booth continues to learn about Tasmania’s edible botanicals so that she can create new blends.

Kristy’s commitment to innovation is clear, having received a 2019 Churchill Fellowship that saw her take a nine-week journey to France, England, and Scotland, where she visited various gardens and distilleries.

Through the Fellowship, she focused on medicinal and apothecary gardens and how that translates to the Australian environment for distillation, education and tourism. 

The trip provided her the opportunity to meet with top distillers who are growing their own herbs and grain on site, and she said she came back with a newfound excitement.

“Soon we’ll be planting barley for our whisky in the bottom paddock,” Ms Lark-Booth said.

She shared that earlier this year they hand-sewed barley seed for a test run which they hope to harvest in a few more months.

“It took us quite a long time, the farmer we had set up to help wasn’t available, so we just gave it a crack ourselves.”

Over time, the distillery has developed into what it is today, a destination boasting a production building, a cellar door as well as a new tourism and function space that was finished around a year ago.

With their space they can hold events including a special evening event on the second Friday of each month, featuring food vans and live music.

They also plan to host more events such as gin high teas and whisky dinners featuring whisky’s paired with chef-cooked meals. 

Later this year, Killara is releasing a new brandy made from locally produced wine.

Ms Lark-booth says plan is to eventually put in a small vineyard so they can make their own wine to distil for the brandy.

Seasonal gins are also part of their offerings, and they are working on releasing an organic blueberry gin in summer with locally grown produce from Old Beach Berries.

They also plan to work with neighbouring walnut and cherry farms to make new liqueurs.

At Killara, Ms Lark-Booth does the distilling herself and has three other staff members that keep the distillery together.

“We’ve got a small but amazing team, I couldn’t do it without them.”

Overall, Ms Lark-Booth really enjoys having the hands-on experience running the distillery provides.

“I really love that I can walk out into the garden to pick stuff and say okay we’re going to make something out of this today, I love that creative aspect.”

“It’s such a great place to come out to and I love it out here.”

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