Story
Botanicals
Drinking
Story
Botanicals
Drinking

Australian Christmas Gin 2024

To make this special annual release, we distill all the ingredients needed to make a perfect Christmas pud, then age the liquid for a year in 100-year-old Muscat barrels. The resulting gin has aromatics of classic juniper and a hint of cinnamon, backed up with a rich palate and a hint of sweetness from the Muscat. Sip it neat, mix it with ginger ale or beer, or try it in some great cocktails.

We still have some Australian Christmas Gin available in the Gin Shop at our Healesville Distillery and Sydney Laboratory! See our trading hours.

$100 AUD
$100
700mL
Qty:

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This gin is a tribute to four things our Co-founder, Cameron Mackenzie loves: Australia, Christmas, gin and his late mum, Wilma.

Each year Wilma would use the 1968 Australian Women’s Weekly recipe to make her puds on Victoria Derby Day, while the rest of the family listened to the races. To this day, one of Cam’s great childhood memories is how his house would smell like Christmas over Cup Weekend.

“I found the recipe and thought it would be fun to start doing it with my girls every year. But even as I was buying all the ingredients at the shops (mixed peel, oranges, dried fruit) I just kept thinking how well it would all distill. And with juniper having such a great pine needle character to begin with, a Christmas gin just started to make sense really quickly.” – Cameron Mackenzie, Four Pillars Co-founder

In keeping this beloved tradition alive, every year we distill all the ingredients from Wilma's original pudding recipe in the copper still we named after her. We then age the resulting gin in Rutherglen Muscat barrels for a year. To finish, we add a slight tweak of Rutherglen Classic Muscat to round out the palate with a touch of richness.

With juniper-led Christmas tree notes and plum pudding character, it smells like gin and tastes like Christmas.

For our ninth annual Australian Christmas Gin art label, we asked Australian crochet artist, Trevor Smith to hand craft ten of his (and our) favourite Christmas table things. Each creation is whimsical, charming and beautifully detailed. We couldn’t fit them all on the bottle, so we chose a pudding, a pavlova, a ham and a few glasses of Christmas Gin Punch.

We distill classic Christmas pudding ingredients like sultanas, nutmeg, citrus peel and currants, along with amped up juniper, cassia and star anise.

Juniper
location: Macedonia

Without juniper, there is no gin. When distilled, it adds a medicinal flavour with notes of pine needles. Juniper is grown wild, and the berries are harvested by hand on mountain slopes.

Cassia
location: Sri Lanka

This spice is made from the bark of East Asian trees related to the ‘true cinnamon’ of Sri Lanka. Cassia adds a distinct richness to our gin, bringing all the other spices together.

Star anise
location: Vietnam

We source ours from Vietnam and the aromatics are insane. When we open a small package of star anise the entire distillery fills with aromas of fresh liquorice, sarsaparilla and pastis.

Christmas pudding ingredients
location: Yarra Valley

We take all the ingredients from Wilma Mackenzie's 1968 Women's Weekly Christmas Pudding recipe, and distill them in the copper still named after her. Think sultanas, raisins, currants, nutmeg, cloves and citrus peel.

Green cardamom
location: Guatemala

We use green cardamom, one of the most expensive spices in the world. The flavour is intense, giving sweet perfumed notes and ginger characteristics when distilled.

Lavender
location: Yarra Valley

Lavender is used sparingly to lift the other aromatics, so it isn’t an obvious character in the final gin. Grown locally, though occasionally we have to source from France.

Orange
location: Australia

In Australia we’re lucky to have oranges all year round, from different growers depending on the season. Fresh biodynamic oranges give warm Mediterranean citrus notes that lift all the spices.

Pepperberry
location: Tasmania

We use the leaf of the Tasmanian pepperberry. This local botanical works so well with our Asian spices, adding warmth and length to the palate without adding heat.

Angelica
location: Netherlands

We use the root of the plant, which has a very earthy, mushroom or woody smell. Angelica adds to the soft texture of the final gin, along with a very, very subtle bitterness.

Lemon myrtle
location: Queensland

Lemon myrtle is a beautiful alternative to lemon peel when distilling. Its floral character mingles with the other spices without dominating any flavours, textures or aromas.

Coriander
location: South Australia

We source coriander seeds locally for their intense aromatics. We use the dry seeds (not fresh leaves) and they produce amazing lemony citrus notes when crushed and distilled.

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Try a nip on the rocks with a slice of orange, or mix up a celebratory Christmas cocktail.

No.1_Gin & Ginger
No.1_Gin & Ginger
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Ginger spice and refreshing citrus. A warming Christmas Mule.
No.2_Christmas Coffee Colada
No.2_Christmas Coffee Colada
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A refreshing, caffeinated pick-me-up to save you from the post-Christmas lunch slump.
No.3_Pavlova Sour
No.3_Pavlova Sour
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A little spicy, a little tropical, fluffy and sour. Better than a supermarket pav but could never beat mum’s homemade one.
No.4_Christmas Strawberry Cup
No.4_Christmas Strawberry Cup
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Fresh and vibrant, with a little berry sweetness. Best served with friends over brunch, afternoon tea or supper. 
No.1_Gin & Ginger
No.1_Gin & Ginger

Ginger spice and refreshing citrus. A warming Christmas Mule.

INGREDIENTS:
  • 45mL Australian Christmas Gin 
  • 2 dashes Angostura Bitters 
  • Ginger beer or ale 
  • Lime
METHOD:
  • Add Australian Christmas Gin and bitters to a tall glass 
  • Squeeze in a wedge of lime and add ice 
  • Top with ginger beer or ale and garnish with another lime wedge 

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No.2_Christmas Coffee Colada
No.2_Christmas Coffee Colada

A refreshing, caffeinated pick-me-up to save you from the post-Christmas lunch slump.

INGREDIENTS:
  • 40mL Australian Christmas Gin  
  • 30mL coconut water  
  • 15mL sugar syrup  
  • 30mL cold brew coffee  
  • Soda 
  • Lemon 
METHOD:
  • Combine ingredients in a Highball glass and add ice 
  • Top with soda and garnish with a wedge of lemon 

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No.3_Pavlova Sour
No.3_Pavlova Sour

A little spicy, a little tropical, fluffy and sour. Better than a supermarket pav but could never beat mum’s homemade one.

INGREDIENTS:
  • 45mL Australian Christmas Gin  
  • 15mL passionfruit syrup* 
  • 20mL lemon juice 
  • 20mL egg white (or Wonderfoam) 
  • Mint 
METHOD:
  • Combine all ingredients in a tin with ice and shake 
  • Strain into a Rocks glass and top with ice 
  • Garnish with a mint sprig 

*To make passionfruit syrup:

  • Combine 250g caster sugar with 250mL water in a saucepan and bring to the boil 
  • Stir to dissolve sugar and remove from heat 
  • Add 250 fresh (approx. 5 passionfruit) or frozen passionfruit pulp and soak for two hours before straining and bottling 
  • Keep refrigerated (will keep for two weeks)

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No.4_Christmas Strawberry Cup
No.4_Christmas Strawberry Cup

Fresh and vibrant, with a little berry sweetness. Best served with friends over brunch, afternoon tea or supper. 

INGREDIENTS:
  • 500mL Australian Christmas Gin  
  • 100mL orange liqueur  
  • 200mL strawberry syrup*  
  • 200mL orange juice  
  • 200mL lemon juice  
  • 700mL soda water  
  • Lemon  
  • Mint  
  • Strawberries 
  • Icing sugar 
METHOD:
  • Combine all ingredients in a punchbowl and top with ice 
  • Garnish with wedges of lemon, sprigs of mint and half strawberries 
  • Lightly dust with icing sugar 

*To make strawberry syrup:

  • Combine 500g caster sugar, 500g frozen strawberries and 100mL water in a container, allowing strawberries 24 hours to defrost and bleed.  
  • Stir and strain into a bottle and refrigerate to chill (will keep for two weeks)

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