Raise the Bar on Aussie Spirits
We proudly acknowledge the Bunurong as the first people to love, live and dine on the lands on which Attica sits today.
We recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Peoples were the first sovereign nations of Australia from time immemorial, and they never ceded this sovereignty.
Raise the Bar on Aussie Spirits
Picture the last of the evening’s light spilling across glass bottles. A bright line illuminating an Australian back bar stocked for sipping, stirring and slowing the pace.
Kylie Shewry
Published 26.06.25
In recent decades, local distillers have found their stride. These six bottles: Never Never Southern Strength Gin, JimmyRum Silver, The Gospel Straight Rye, Hippocampus Vodka, Marionette Bitter Curaçao and Maidenii Classic Vermouth, represent a considered expression of place, season and distilling craft, and are the perfect start to an all-Australian home bar.
Your home bar
Gin – Never Never Southern Strength
With classic juniper at its heart, and citrus, coriander and angelica weaving through, this 52 per cent gin was crowned World’s Best Classic in 2019.
Lush, viscous and warming, it doesn’t overwhelm in a classic gin Martini, and sparkles in a G&T with a bright tonic and grapefruit peel.
Rum – JimmyRum Silver
Born in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, this unaged cane spirit is distilled in a 1500‑litre copper still affectionately named Matilda. Warm vanilla and soft caramel lead then drift into fresh grass notes, finishing clean.
It shines in a classic daiquiri, over ice with a bitey ginger beer with a lime wedge garnish or even replacing the vodka in an espresso martini.
Whisky – The Gospel Straight Rye
Melbourne‑made from a single farm’s rye in the Murray Mallee, matured in American oak then former wine barrels. Spice‑driven yet honey sweet, it offers white pepper, caramel and a hint of mint.
Imagine it stirred into an old fashioned, savoured neat, or shaken with egg whites, simple syrup and citrus for the perfect after-dinner sour.
Vodka – Hippocampus Vodka
From biodynamic Western Australian wheat, fermented in small batches and twice distilled for clarity. Silky, clean and subtly rich with nuances of soft vanilla.
Ideal when chilling with a handmade vodka martini or lengthened into a crisp Collins as a counterpoint to seasonal fruit.
Bitter Liqueur – Marionette Bitter Curaçao
Crafted in Melbourne since 2017 by hospitality insiders. Seville and navel oranges from Mildura create sweet citrus, undercut with pomelo bitterness, cacao and violet.
Balanced and herbal, it elevates a negroni or americano, or serve simply with soda, ice and an orange zest wedge for a light aperitivo-style drink.
Vermouth – Maidenii Dry Vermouth
A Central Victorian collaboration rooted in native flora—sea parsley, wattle seed, river mint, strawberry gum and lime leaf.
Dry and herbaceous, it’s a worthy martini partner or a slightly savoury sipper over ice with an orange wedge at day's end.
How to Build your Back Bar
Keep on hand small batch mixers like tonics and sodas, paired with sugar syrup, quality ice, citrus and herbs encouraging creativity. If you are new to cocktails, begin simply: gin with tonic and citrus, a neat whisky, vodka crisp with soda. Once you have a feel for these spirits, then you can lean into nuance: a negroni with Never Never, Marionette and Maidenii or a silver daiquiri with JimmyRum and finger lime.
Explore local mixers and garnishes that draw from place: citrus peel, native herbs, barrel‑aged tonics. Invite conversation around provenance. Select one signature cocktail and let it become yours; an emblem of where you are, who you are and the spirits that stand behind that choice.
Why this line‑up works
Each bottle speaks of a region and a maker. Together they match in versatility and flavour depth – from gin’s fragrant juniper to whisky’s pepper-edged warmth, vodka’s purity, rum’s gentle sweetness, bitters’ citrus bite and vermouth’s herbal complexity. They’re respectively a martini, stirred, long drink, highball, aperitivo and digestif. But at the centre of all is care: native botanicals, single‑farm grain, copper distillation and biodynamic wheat offer stories within the sip.
Whether hosting quietly or entertaining with intent, this back bar brings reflection. It’s a gathering of land and distiller, waiting for the right moment to be heard.
