Why we started Backwoods, what we've built, and what we hope comes next.
Backwoods started with a simple idea: we wanted to come home.
After years of travelling the world, Leigh and I had settled in Melbourne with our young family. We were living the life so many people do ā travelling on trams, sitting in traffic, racing to childcare pick-ups and trying to make the most of weekends.
But almost every weekend and holiday meant packing up the car and driving north on the Hume to Myrtleford, where we had both grown up. And every time we left, it got a little harder to leave.
We had grown up in the country and, somewhere along the way, realised that this was where we wanted to settle and raise our boys.
So in 2016, we decided we'd had enough of the rat race. We packed up our life in Melbourne, found new jobs and moved back to North East Victoria.
Growing up around growers, farmers and producers
For me, rural life wasn't something I had discovered as an adult. It was how I'd grown up.
My Dad was a tobacco farmer and I spent my early years hanging around with Dad on the farm. When I was old enough, I started working on the farm and neighbouring farms, picking fruit seasonally and training hop vines in the heat of summer. It was hard work. But I look back on that time fondly.
Leigh had a similar upbringing. We grew up surrounded by farmers, growers, winemakers and producers. We understood the work that went into making something from the land, and we grew up with a deep respect for the people who did it.
So when we found a little property in Yackandandah and made the move in 2016, it didn't feel strange to think about starting a business here.
We wanted to make something that represented the landscape we had come home to. Something that celebrated the farmers and producers around us. Something that contributed to the growing food, wine, spirits and tourism industry that we had grown up with.
We had also developed a serious interest in whisky.
Combine that with Leigh's background as a history teacher and his fascination with the stories of Yackandandah and the surrounding goldfields, and the idea of making whisky here started to make a lot of sense.
A distillery in Yackandandah, using Australian-grown grains and drawing inspiration from the history and landscape around us. That was the beginning of Backwoods.
From an idea to our first barrel
Once we had the idea, it grew quickly into reality.
Leigh took a term off teaching and spent his time researching everything he could about setting up a craft distillery ā grain and malt, still design, production and what it would take to actually make whisky from scratch.
At the same time, I started working with an old school friend, a graphic designer, on what would become the Backwoods brand.
A year or so later, in mid-2017, we had our logo, our still was in production, and our first order of malt and barrels was on its way.
By Christmas 2017, the distillery was set up in our shed. Our beautiful 1,250-litre copper pot still was the star of the show, surrounded by a mash tun and fermenter we'd created using upcycled farm equipment.
By the end of that year, our first batch of whisky was in barrel. And we were officially distillers.
Nine years later
Fast forward to 2026 and Backwoods looks very different from those early days in the shed.
We now have more than 300 barrels maturing in our bond store, a distillery and tasting room operating in the Yackandandah township, and a team of six, including our weekend casuals.
We're proud to have become part of the local tourism landscape and an important part of the region's growing food, drink and visitor economy.
Our signature range of single malt and rye whiskies has taken out gold medals in Australian and international competitions. We've added a range of gin, which has become an important part of the business ā with our Salted Lime Gin becoming a firm favourite with gin lovers.
In 2024, we were incredibly proud to be named Champion Victorian Distillery.
And now, we're about to move our barrels into a newly built bond store in Yackandandah. It's a pretty big milestone for a business that started in a little shed.
The new facility will give us somewhere safe and purpose-built to store our biggest assets ā those hundreds of barrels of maturing whisky ā and, importantly, give us the space to continue growing.
But what does Backwoods actually stand for?
For us, Backwoods has always been about more than whisky. It's about place. It's about coming home to the High Country and building something here.Ā
It's about Australian ingredients, local producers and the people who put in the hard yards to make things. It's about taking our time and doing things properly.
It's about making whisky that has a genuine sense of place ā whisky that could only have come from here. And it's about building a business that contributes to the community around it.
We've deliberately taken a slow and steady approach to growing Backwoods. We've done it without investors. Backwoods is 100% ours.
That has meant slower growth at times. It has also meant plenty of hard work, stress, uncertainty and sacrifice. But it means we're incredibly proud of what we've built.
Every barrel, every bottle, every new employee, every award and every milestone has come from the two of us backing ourselves and continuing to put one foot in front of the other.
Our ambition for Australian whisky
One of our biggest ambitions for Backwoods is something that might sound simple:
We want Backwoods whisky to become a reference point for Australian whisky.
Not just a good Australian whisky. Not just an award-winning Australian whisky.
We want someone, somewhere, to think about what great Australian whisky can be ā and think of Backwoods.
We want to be known for making whisky with integrity, using Australian-grown grains and distinctive Australian cask maturation, while creating something that genuinely reflects where we are.
And we want to keep pushing Australian whisky forward. We're incredibly proud to be part of an industry that has grown so much since we started. There's a long way to go, and we want Backwoods to play a meaningful role in where Australian whisky goes next.
Building something that lasts
Ultimately, our dream for Backwoods is pretty simple. We want to build a sustainable business that can continue to grow and support good people.
Maybe one day, there will be enough of a team around us that Leigh and I can step back a little and enjoy the reward for all those years of hard work.
We want Backwoods to continue to be an important business for Yackandandah, for the High Country and for Australian whisky.
And we want to leave something behind. Perhaps one day, our boys might look at what we've built and decide they'd like to take it on. A second-generation distillery.
It's a long way off, and who knows what the future will bring. But we love the idea that the little distillery we started in a shed back in 2017 could one day become something our family carries forward.
For now, we'll keep doing what we've always done ā making whisky, backing Australian producers and building our team. And hopefully, in doing so, we'll continue to build something that lasts.
Come and experience Backwoods
If you're in the High Country, come and see what we've built. Visit our distillery door in Yackandandah for a tasting, a cocktail and a look behind the scenes.
Or, if you can't make it to the High Country, explore our award-winning Australian whisky and gin online.