Kiera Shiels and Matt Oberg, Last Hope Distillery, Patagonia

Knock Tales Whisky Podcast with Gordon Bruce

What led two young Australian engineers to pack in their jobs and build a distillery from scratch in one of the most remote corners of the world? In this episode, tune in to hear Kiera Shiels and Matt Oberg of Last Hope Distillery in Patagonia give Gordon the lowdown on their great leap of faith, and a new life crafting small batch gin and whisky in Puerto Natales.

Knockdhu is out of the way, but Last Hope Distillery takes remote to the next level. Trips to the city happen twice a year, the winter freeze stops production and it takes a barrel load of ‘make do and mend’ spirit to keep things running (an approach Gordon naturally approves of).

But as this intrepid duo reveal, they have everything they need on their doorstep – from a ready supply of peat they can pick up by the roadside, to customers at their distillery bar next door to test gin experiments - and locals who are happy to fill their gin bottles by hand at the distillery door for the ultimate in sustainable packaging.

The three also agree that, although whisky is made from just a few simple ingredients, the beauty of your surroundings, the pristine water, clean air and local traditions bring a certain magic once its in the bottle.