Production places
Connections to water sources, peat places, maltings, cooperages, warehouses and maturation sites. Uncertain connections are labelled.
Water sources 1
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Show on map: Belgrove — harvested rainwater
Belgrove — harvested rainwater
AustraliaBelgrove describes harvesting water from farm roofs for brewing and diluting its rye whisky. Cooling water comes separately from the farm dam.
Water sourceFarm overview from existing WhiskyMap distillery record 2494, at the producer’s published address, 3121 Midland Highway. It does not locate individual collection roofs or tanks.
Belgrove Distillery
About the distillery (short)
Belgrove Distillery is located in Kempton, Tasmania, north of Hobart, and is a small rye distillery with a rare full farm-to-bottle profile. Rye grain is grown on-site, and the production brings together malting, fermentation, distillation, and cask maturation in the same place. It’s especially interesting for whisky lovers because the house combines classic rye character with both peated rye, white rye, and more experimental expressions such as oat whisky and ginger spirit.
Ingredients and production
Belgrove works with its own rye grain and produces whisky on the farm, from paddock to bottle. The distillery says it malts, ferments, and distills on-site, and that both mash-brew water and dilution water are harvested from the roofs, while the cooling water comes from a dam. Yeast is often reused, and the spent mash goes to the sheep. The heart of the production is a copper pot still that Peter Bignell himself built from scratch. It is directly fired with biofuel made from used cooking oil from a roadhouse near the farm, and the other farm machinery also runs on biodiesel made from the same raw material. This enables a very local, practical production—where the raw inputs are few, but highly considered. The distillery works with regular rye whisky, peated rye, white rye, and a whisky made with oats, so the grain profile is clear and varied, but always rooted in the farm’s own operations.
Maturation and cask types
Maturation takes place on-site, and several products show a clear interest in both used casks and unusual combinations. Pommeau is aged for 12 months in cask after being made from distilled apple cider, diluted and sweetened with fresh apple juice. Oat Whisky Batch 8 is vatted from two 2nd fill casks, where one previously held rum and the other T-Bone Peach Sour Beer, and the batch has been resting together for more than 10 weeks. This points to a producer who actively uses casks to build both texture and extra layers of fruit, spice, and summery notes.
Whiskies
The range spans from the light White Rye over the core Rye Whisky 46% to Peated Rye Whisky and the special Oat Whisky Batch 8. In addition, there’s Black Rye Coffee Liqueur, Ginger Hammer, and Pommeau, which take the house beyond the classic whisky family. At the heart of the whisky line, rye is still the clearest focus, but the expressions vary from pure and young white rye to more developed, creamy, and spiced rye versions, and in the peated version there’s a darker, campfire-like character. Overall, it results in a range where the same farm profile can be expressed in multiple ways without losing its distinct identity.
| Whisky | Type / series | Alcohol | Cask and style | Flavor profile | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White Rye | White Rye | 40 % | peated/peaty | A very clean and soft white rye that can also be used in mixed drinks.; Nose: Grainy, dried fruit, spicy; extremely fruity with citrus, orange, tangerine, vanilla, dried banana flakes, grainy, nutty, cellar-stored apples, dried apricot.; Palate: Peppery, quite smoky, dried mango, dried berries, dough, creamy mouthfeel, grainy, ripe and long-stored apples, orange zest, creamy texture, slightly spicy and peppery.; Finish: Molasses in the aftertaste; very grainy, slightly spicy with cinnamon, smoke and Christmas aromas. | Current; Core range; Available |
| Rye Whisky 46% | Rye Whisky | 46 % | The distillery’s core rye whisky with the distinct spearmint signature that carries through the house’s rye whiskies.; Nose: Creamy and buttery, ripe tropical fruits like passion fruit and durian, grainy, fresh dough, sultanas, soft Christmas spices, jelly beans, icing sugar, a little floral.; Palate: Grainy and malty, slightly peppery, green wood, milk chocolate and vanilla, spicy with a creamy texture, almonds, green walnuts and wet hay.; Finish: Warming, spicy, creamy texture, quite long and intense with grainy notes. | Current; Core range; Available | |
| Rye Whisky | Rye Whisky | 46 % | The same rye whisky as the 46% edition, bottled in 250 ml.; Nose: Creamy and buttery, ripe tropical fruits, grainy, fresh dough, sultanas, soft Christmas spices, jelly beans, icing for cakes, a little floral.; Palate: Grainy and malty, slightly peppery, green wood, milk chocolate and vanilla, spicy with a creamy texture, almonds, green walnuts and wet hay.; Finish: Warming, spicy, creamy texture, quite long and intense with grainy attitudes. | Current; Available | |
| Peated Rye Whisky | Rye Whisky | 50 % | peated/peaty | A peated rye whisky, which it describes itself as surprisingly smoky but not really peat-smoked.; Nose: Slightly meaty, cold smoke, quite sweet with vanilla and honey fudge.; Palate: Smoky and fruity, quite sweet with cold ash aromas, caramel, earthy like a campfire in warm summer rain, burned apricot.; Finish: More warm smoke, slightly meaty, still earthy like a warm summer night with some raindrops on a paved road. | Current; Available |
| Black Rye COFFEE LIQUEUR | Liqueur based on whisky | 22 % | The liqueur is built on grappa and white rye, with coffee and distinct hints of chocolate and nuts. | Current; Available | |
| Oat Whisky Batch 8 54% | Oat Whisky | 54 % | Second fill cask | A very small batch made from two 2nd fill casks, where fruity and sweet tones meet a creamy structure.; Nose: Very elegant aromas of oat porridge; sweet, complex, spicy.; Palate: Dangerously smooth, creamy and lingering; the Millard Reaction gives a beautiful skeleton to the other flavours. | Current; Available |
| Ginger Hammer | Distilled Ginger Beer | 50 % | Distilled ginger beer bottled at 50% vol.; Nose: Very fruity, spicy, freshly ground spices, lime, cumquat, lemon zest, fresh and green.; Palate: Freshly ground ginger, ginger spices, peppery ginger, apple ginger, ginger juice, soapy ginger.; Finish: Citrus ginger, mouth drying and salivating. | Current; Available | |
| Pommeau | Apple spirit / pommeau | 20 % | Barrel; finish: Mellowed in barrel for 12 months | Distilled apple cider, diluted and sweetened with fresh apple juice, then matured in a barrel for 12 months. | Current; Available |
Whisky style and flavor profile
Belgrove’s whiskies combine a clear herbal and spiced rye note with spearmint, dill, and caraway as prominent signatures. In several versions, chamomile tea, sourdough bread, grainy malt, and creamy mouthfeel also show up—making the style both green, bready, and soft. The fruitier expressions show tropical fruit, orange, tangerine, dried mango, and burned apricot, while the more smoky versions move toward cold smoke, cold ash, caramel, and campfire. This gives a house style that can be both fresh, spiced, and smoky all at the same time.
Visit the distillery
Belgrove can be visited by appointment in Kempton, Tasmania, and there is also a shop on-site. Visits are therefore not open as a typical drop-in program, but handled as appointment only. This allows for a more personal visit, where the focus is on the distillery as a working farm rather than as a large visitor center with fixed daily tours. For whisky enthusiasts, it means meeting a place where production and farm are closely connected, and where the visit is based on that real-world setting.
The listed opening hours are Appointment Only.
Philosophy and craftsmanship
Belgrove’s philosophy is very concrete: own cultivation, own distillation, and a closed-loop system on the farm. The distillery works with small batches, biofuel, and reuse of both water and residual products. At the same time, it highlights that the most important thing brought onto the farm is used cooking oil, while the most important thing leaving the site is whisky. There is a clear value in creating a low-transport product, a high degree of self-sufficiency, and a close connection between soil and bottle.
Sustainability
Bio-diesel powers the still and farm vehicles.
Hot water is biofuel heated.
Cooling water comes from a dam.
Waste water is recycled or used for irrigation.
Brewing and diluting water is harvested from roofs.
Spent mash is fed to sheep.