Don’t take a big deep breath in,” warns Cameron Mackenzie. “If you do, you’ll wake up on Thursday.” Our group chuckles nervously, holding our collective breath while peering at the gleaming copper still. It’s a crisp Monday morning at the Four Pillars distillery in Healesville and I’m attending a ‘maker session’ where Mackenzie, the co-founder and head distiller, is pulling back the curtain on how he creates Four Pillars’ award-winning gins.
Inside the still is a heady blend of pure alcohol and wild grown juniper, and we are about to add in a variety of botanicals to produce our own signature gin. There’s a gentle scent of pine, citrus and sarsaparilla
