‘Devil’s peak’ features in years-long creation of Outback whisky
An Outback distillery claims its new golden offering is a Flinders Ranges first.
An award-winning distillery based in Quorn is set to release a new whisky, with its owners claiming it to be the first ever commercially released product distilled and matured in the Flinders Ranges.
Flinders Gin head distiller Alby Trotta told InDaily that there were “not many whiskies produced this far north before” due to the unique and fluctuating climate conditions in Flinders Ranges.
“This is a very different environment from many traditional whisky regions, and we’ve spent the past few years working with casks, char, maturation and our local conditions,” Trotta said.
“The reason why it’s actually developing better, stronger flavours up here is because we have such huge temperature fluctuations.
“In winter it can get down to minus five degrees, and then in summer you get up to 50 degrees, and so it goes in and out of the barrel and the whisky develops a lot of the flavours.”
Temperature and pressure cycles are integral to the flavour profile, with warmer weather increasing pressure and pushing the spirit deep into the oak pores, while cool weather draws the liquid back out.
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The “unique” Flinders Ranges climate allows the whisky to mature significantly faster than in cooler traditional regions like Scotland which produces the most whisky globally.
Casks were prepared at a cooperage in the Barossa using oak that had been air dried for 36 months before being hand charred.
The Flinders Whisky range was then aged in the American oak barrels for more than two years and three months, with Trotta saying the final product developed flavours of chocolate, toffee and char.
Since first opening in 2021, the co-owners Alby and Leah Trotta have built a dedicated gin distillery using locally sourced ingredients, taking home major awards in the Australian Gin Awards for their Quandong Gin just eight weeks after the business was launched.
Now, the couple is among a growing number of producers building the state’s whisky offerings.
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South Australia is quietly building a strong industry, with at least 35 distilleries producing whisky including Prohibition Liquor, Never Never Distilling and major players Coopers Brewery.
It comes on the back of a growing national whisky market, valued at $2.28 billion in 2025 according to Expert Market Research research.
Despite the growing demand for locally made whisky, Trotta says the business will “always be a gin distillery” first and foremost due to the time intensive nature of whisky making.
“The whisky was kind of my pet project within it, we wanted to learn what whisky made in the Flinders Ranges could become,” Trotta said.
“There’s a lot of whisky distilleries that start out as gin distilleries to get cash flow through the door because it’s at least a two-year return before you get anything back.
“If you had a business model that started off with whisky straight away, you’re not getting any cash in for the next two years and you’ll go broke pretty quickly.”
The two-year endeavour has seen the production of close to 5000 whisky bottles — a far-cry from the 3000 bottles of gin the company produces weekly.
But the head distiller described the whisky as “a labour of love” to the local area that has helped shape the business, with each bottle set to feature an outline of Devil’s Peak, a local Quorn landmark that also inspired the Flinders Gin branding.
The first release will see 750 individually numbered 500mL bottles hit the market on Sunday for Father’s Day.
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