Every distillery has a backstory, but not many entail the 2019 Black Summer fires, a flood, a Death Adder, a pandemic, another flood, more pandemic, and yes; another flood. That sounds like the beginning of a sad story, but it’s the beginning of a story about resilience, rolling with the punches, seizing every opportunity to laugh and have a bit of fun.
Karu Distillery, located amongst The Devils Wilderness at the base of the Blue Mountains, was formally established in 2017 by couple Nick and Ally Ayres. A few years prior, the pair returned from overseas and were looking for a change. They originally wanted to start a bar, but fell in love with the bottles behind it and what lay inside. It eventually occurred to them that distilling was a job that someone could actually have, so they set off chasing knowledge around the country and slowly learnt the art of distillation. At this point, Nick was about to move up further into the world of film and television, and Ally was experiencing great success in her new role. As for their much-needed life change; it was now, or never.
