Whisky takes years to mature to perfection, but the single malts made by Waubs Harbour Whisky have been developing for far longer.
The head distiller, Rob Polmear, has spent more than a decade working in some of Tasmania’s top distilleries, such as the venerated Overeem Whisky and the trailblazing Lark Distillery.
But Waubs Harbour Whisky has been growing organically for much of Rob’s life – he grew up turning Tasmania’s pristine ingredients into artisan products, such as cheese made with local pepperberries, honey from hives, and salmon he’d catch and smoke himself.
Rob Polmear, head distiller. Photograph: Ideas Banq.
“I just always thought everyone was like me,” he says. “Maybe it’s because life is slower here, so you’ve got time to make things and appreciate them; it’s very normal to keep bees, go hunting or foraging.”
Rob’s passion for the natural world around him ultimately led him to study for a master of marine and Antarctic science at the University of Tasmania. But eager to blend his science knowledge and creativity as a craftsman, he turned to making Tasmanian whisky.
In his time at Overeem and Lark, Rob worked with some of Tasmania’s finest distillers, turning grain, water and yeast into world-class whisky using barrels, patience and a precise understanding of fermentation and distillation.
In 2017, a conversation sitting around a fire brought Waub’s Harbour’s single malt to life. Rob, his brother Tim, and Tim’s wife, Bec, were discussing the formula for crafting the perfect whisky. They talked about their shared love of the coast and maritime-style whisky, such as the seaside single malts crafted by some of Scotland’s foremost malt maestros.
Tim says: “Whisky is so much about provenance and we wanted to be as close to that wild Tasmanian maritime environment as we could be.”
It’s hard to imagine a distillery that could sit closer to the ocean, with Waubs Harbour occupying an old oyster hatchery in the beautiful east coast town of Bicheno.
The distillery’s name pays tribute to the town’s early history and a local hero, the palawa (Tasmanian Aboriginal) woman, Wauba Debar. A sealer’s slave, she rescued two men from drowning in the early 19th century after a wild storm hit their ship, and the location became known as Waubs Harbour, or Waubs Boat Harbour.
Today her gravestone is a significant landmark in what is now the town of Bicheno.
Tim says that at the time, it was unheard of for a palawa woman to be buried and commemorated alongside non-Aboriginal locals.
Tim adds that while the story is well known in Bicheno, the distillery founders wanted to tell it to a wider audience, and felt a personal tie, given their family has Aboriginal heritage.
“That was such a strong story to us that we just loved the idea of telling it through our distillery,” Tim says.
Photographs: Andrew Wilson and Tim Hughes
Farm fresh, ocean matured
That old oyster hatchery is integral to each bottle of whisky the Polmear family produces. Tasmania’s coastal air acts like an ingredient: Rob says it provides temperate conditions, while the constant battering of sea air affects each barrel.
Photograph: Ideas Banq
Rob says: “Over time, you get provenance forced into our barrels. You can’t get around that. If you come to the distillery, you can see that everything is salt-laden, and how it gets into the walls.”
Rob says the salinity in the air affects what the distillery produces in the same way that salt makes your steak or potatoes taste better. But as any home cook will attest, salt won’t do much if the base ingredients aren’t any good – and Rob says the process starts with local barley and pristine water.
“Tassie barley is a must for us and we like to use [it] from a single farm when we can,” Rob says.
And their water has a chemistry that’s different to other sites in Tasmania, Rob says, adding another element to the provenance story. “The Apsley River – that’s an awesome water supply.”
Using local ingredients is one of many ways Waubs Harbour is committed to making sustainable whisky. Distilling requires energy-intensive chilling machines, but once again, the ocean is an ally in making Waubs Harbour’s single malts. By repurposing the old hatchery’s infrastructure, the distillers are able to use fresh ocean water to cool their system, and they use heat recovery across their process as an energy-saving measure.
A small state of big flavours
The sea air and ingredients don’t just lift Waubs Harbour whiskies – they affect the makers too.
In Bicheno, Tim will often start a workday by swimming with other locals; a favourite pastime he recommends to any visitor. You’re likely to see large flocks of crested terns or muttons as they fly past – or a pod of dolphins chasing mackerel, if you’re lucky.
“There’s so much energy that comes from being on the water and looking into it,” Tim says. “I get itchy feet if I’m ever inland for too long.”
Tim says Waubs Harbour has received lots of support from the state’s other whisky makers, such as Overeem, one of Tasmania’s first single malt makers.
“It’s an inspiration how they go about things,” Tim says. “They’re so meticulous and produce exceptional whisky.”
Photograph: Ideas Banq
He adds that whisky lovers should always seek out drops from Patrick Maguire of Sullivans Cove, who helped launch Tasmania onto the world stage when one of his whiskies was declared the world’s best single malt at the World Whiskies Awards in 2014.
“He’s been such a good friend of our distillery since we started,” Tim says. “He’s very humble and in a way, he has no right to be – given they’ve picked up such important awards on the global stage.”
Rob says that this kind of collaboration isn’t unique to whisky makers in Tasmania. The state’s other small producers share a desire to grow together.
Once they’ve been used to make whisky, Waubs Harbour’s grains are picked up by farmer Will from Pig Creek Homestead to feed his livestock. Will in turn works closely with Fingal Meatworks, and wants to see a baker set up on his farm.
“He’s just a prime example of someone who wants to create that same community culture and bring people together,” Rob says.
It’s a slow approach, in which flavour trumps size, and it’s an approach to which Rob says Waubs Harbour is devoted.
“We’re about flavour, not yield.”
That commitment to quality over quantity is one that Rob says is shared by the countless small producers across the state.
“There’s a culture or philosophy about producing in Tassie where things are slower and driven by a sense of craft and pure passion for creating quality.”
