The Story behind Chiefs Son Distillery
Chiefs Son Distillery is a vibrant, family owned and operated, Single Malt Whisky distillery, located on Australia’s beautiful Mornington Peninsula.
Purpose built from the ground up, it is a true craft house, focusing solely on creating the most complex, smooth and full flavoured malt whiskies.
Crafting a range of four unique and powerful whiskies, they have carved out the perfect balance between craft, tradition and modern distilling. As part of an incredible food and beverage district, they also create innovative collaborations with other craft businesses such as Breweries, Coffee Roasters and Chocolatiers. The modern tasting room overlooks the working distillery floor and is the perfect place to learn about some of the finest, premium Single Malt Whiskies being produced today.
Who are the people behind your business
Stuart & Naomi McIntosh are Co-Founders, Owners and Distillers. As a married couple and best friends for 30 years, they have incredibly interesting backgrounds ranging from Army, to Science, to IT & Finance. With a passionate team of Peninsula locals staffing the Distillery, everyone wears many hats in this bustling world of whisky, boxes, bottles, visitors, admin and of course distilling.
Tell us something quirky or memorable about you, your customers or your business
Whether whisky buffs, novices or professionals, people can’t help but fall in love with the true and compelling story behind the foundation and development of Chief’s Son Distillery.
The fact that we won a ’25 words or less competition’ and that prize changed our lives forever. The fact that the name ‘Chief’s Son’ is derived from our surname McIntosh. That 900 years ago the family were awarded this surname as a battle honour. The White-Bellied Sea Eagle logo represents four unique components of family, nature, distilling and heritage…
All of this and much, much more is interwoven through the brand and the experience. A compelling story that will stay with you forever!
Amazing experience, truly gem in the Mornington Peninsula. Highly recommended. Excellent quality of whisky and different options to choose from. Just the Best . Fantastic Tasting Good setup. Great tasting and product knowledge excellent. It is but a bit hidden in the factories and worth the search. Great whisky. Visit is a must when travelling the Mornington Peninsula Superbly crafted Whiskey. Loved the taste, flavour and Stuart & Naomi were very helpful The best whisky I have ever tasted!
What is a thing you love about your business?
‘We love getting out of bed every morning to make whisky to share with people. Our distilling weeks are by far the best, early morning starts through to beautiful sunrises, the changing aromas of the Wash through to Low Wines and finally to New Make Spirit. Then after many years of waiting patiently, we all get to taste and test the Whisky. Then the fun begins with decanting through to bottling, always a laugh. After that we all love sharing our story, our whisky and our passion. But above all we love connecting with people over our whisky’.
What is the company background?
Chief’s Son Distillery opened to the public in March 2019, but the whisky journey officially began in 2011. The ‘Project’ started when Co-Founder Stuart McIntosh purchased three bottles of whisky (2 for him, 1 for Dad), each containing a ’25 Words or Less’ promotional competition, with the best words winning a behind the scenes tour of some of the Scotland’s best distilleries. So whilst Stuart purchased the Whisky, it was his father’s words that who won the trip and so Father & Son took off to Scotland for 2 weeks… (Whilst Naomi stayed behind with 6mth old twins and a 2.5yr old!) Upon return, Stuart and Naomi immediately commenced developing the Test Bed Distillery, eventually progressing from a 40L Still to the commercial 4000L Still in use today… and the rest as they say is history!
What is your ultimate vision for your business?
In 20 years time we trust that Chief’s Son Distillery will be firmly in family hands. We hope that it has grown to be a prominent Australian brand and that people from all around the world are drawn to it’s uniqueness, quality and consistency. It’d make us incredibly happy to know that it helps to create connections and memories between family and friends.
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