Aussie success story Four Pillars wins sustainability award at the ‘Oscars for booze’

Four Pillars has been honoured with a Green Spirit award at the International Wine and Spirits Competition, widely regarded as the ‘Oscars for booze’, in recognition of the Victorian gin distillery’s commitment to running a fully-sustainable gin operation.

The prestigious awards were a glitzy affair in London this week, and co-founder Cameron Mackenzie and operations director Michelle Hall knew they were up against stiff competition — Cooper King Distillery⁠, Two Drifters Rum⁠, Brighton Gin, Nc’nean Distillery⁠ and Tomatin Distillery.

It was one of the “proudest days in our short history”, Mackenzie says, and a “huge day for Four Pillars” after the Healesville distillery beat out the all-British competitors and was awarded the 2022 Green Spirit Initiative Award.

The award was created to recognise distilleries, producers, and spirit companies who are actively improving their environmental credentials and setting the standard for more considered spirit-making practices.

“When we started making gin in 2013 we always wanted to be as sustainable as we could but distilling uses a lot of energy, glass and waste, we recognise that,” Mackenzie said.

“But over the past three years and most particularly with the brilliant work from Michelle with help from the sustainability team at Lion, our incredible architects Breathe, and just sheer inventiveness and willpower, we have arrived here.”

In April, Four Pillars unveiled a $7 million upgrade to its Yarra Valley location, making it the first carbon-neutral gin distillery in Australia under strict Climate Active certification.

Since then, the distillery says it has saved 800kg of glass each week by serving drinks and gin on tap, while saving 80,000 litres of fresh water by cooling the building through copper pipes inside the building.

Oranges used in Four Pillars distillation process over the last 12 months have had a second life as 25,000 jars of marmalade, while botanicals are dried and turned into gin salt and gin chocolate.

The Four Pillars distillery is even furnished using recycled pineapple leather.

“In many ways we want this to be an award not just for us but for the whole of Australian distilling,” Mackenzie continued.

“If we have the desire, resourcefulness and belief we can become a really responsible and environmentally friendly industry that also happens to make the world’s best drinks.”

Four Pillars has had a dream run since it was founded in 2013 — it won International Gin Producer of the Year in 2019 and 2020 in the prestigious International Wine and Spirits Competition, and the World Gin Awards 2022 Icons of Gin Distiller of the Year and Brand Innovator of the Year.

In 2019, Stuart Gregor and Mackenzie together with co-founder Matt Jones sold a 50% stake in the business to multi-national drinks giant Lion with plans to move into the international duty-free market and other opportunities in south-east Asia and mainland Europe.

The distiller survived several lockdowns in Victoria by diversifying into hand sanitiser and opening a new venue, the Four Pillars Laboratory in Sydney’s Surry Hills.