The natural environment and rugged beauty of the Great Ocean Road are the inspiration behind Great Ocean Road’s coastal gins.<\/p>\n
The gin and its playful brand are a nostalgic nod to its makers’ favourite place in the world, and their love of premium gin.<\/p>\n
The Great Ocean Road has been part of Great Ocean Road Gin founder Ann Houlihan’s history for more than 50 years.<\/p>\n
Her parents built a holiday house at Moggs Creek in 1970, not far from the famed Ocean Road sign. Their home burnt down in the Ash Wednesday bushfires and was rebuilt.<\/p>\n
Ann’s childhood featured long days on the beach, rambling in rock pools and exploring the native forest on the look out for local wildflowers and orchids.<\/p>\n
In November 2017, Ann and her partner Kriss Mckie, moved their family to Anglesea for a sea change and for Ann to begin making her small batch craft gin which features botanicals from the region.<\/p>\n
Ann’s professional life included roles in event management, marketing and communications for organisations including the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival and the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria.<\/p>\n
This included establishing the first Australian Distilled Spirit Awards as the spirts industry was emerging in Australia.<\/p>\n
Her love of the Surf Coast region, craft gin and work experience all worked in her favour when establishing Great Ocean Road Gin.<\/p>\n
Her partner Kriss had a background in state and local government with a focus on social policy and community development. She joined the ever-expanding Great Ocean Road Gin to support Ann full time in 2021.<\/p>\n
Excited by the thriving food scene in Geelong and the Surf Coast region, the pair were keen to be a part of the growing food community on the coast.<\/p>\n
Their focus was to use local ingredients and botanicals to create gin that was reflective of the coastline and initially work with a local indigenous nursery to identify the unique plants growing in the region.<\/p>\n
In December 2022, the doors to their new Torquay based distillery in Sawmills Way opened.<\/p>\n
Their gins are made on a 300L Australian copper pot still sourced from Tasmania. The distillery, in addition to production, houses a retail store and a cellar door bar that is opened Friday and Saturdays for gin and tonics, tasting trays and cocktails.<\/p>\n
The first gin, a modern dry gin called Guvvos (pronounced Gov-ohs) was released in 2018.<\/p>\n
It features 24 botanicals, nine of them from the region including kelp, salt bush, eucalyptus, hop wattle and a local honey to name a few.<\/p>\n
The gin itself is named after the surf beach located outside Point Roadknight where the kelp is foraged.<\/p>\n
Great Ocean Road Gin now have six gins in their range.<\/p>\n
Ann and Kriss are excited about creating unique dining destinations serving quality food and drink. In addition to the new distillery in Torquay they have a Tasting Room and Gin Garden and a restaurant called The Gin Kitchen in<\/p>\n
Aireys Inlet, serving gin cocktails, local wines and beers and authentic Southeast Asian shared plates.<\/p>\n
As a women owned and operated business, the pair are excited about the opportunity to connect with other locally owned women-owned businesses and look forward to collaborations in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The natural environment and rugged beauty of the Great Ocean Road are the inspiration behind Great Ocean Road’s coastal gins. The gin and its playful brand are a nostalgic nod to its makers’ favourite place in the world, and their love of premium gin. The Great Ocean Road has been part of Great Ocean Road […]<\/p>\n