As Australia’s whisky scene rides its ups and downs, Tasmania keeps its course with another name worth knowing — Old Kempton.
Australia’s whisky scene has seen sharp rises and occasional stumbles. Bold new players, fast expansions, and just as often, ownership changes, production pauses, and supply inconsistencies that didn’t live up to the promise. But through it all, Tasmania has stood apart: a cool climate region known for its consistent, craft-focused offerings — from wine and cheese to beer and honey — that set the standard for Australian single malt, long before “world whisky” became a serious category that doesn’t just mean “others”.
Now, one of Tasmania’s underrated names is officially here on business in Singapore: Old Kempton, joining the small handful of Tasmanian whiskies available in Singapore — Lark, Sullivans Cove and, more recently Hellyers Road.
And while it may not come with global fanfare or collector hysteria, it arrives with something arguably more valuable — heritage and a distillery culture that prioritises steady progress over an instantaneous hype machine.
A legacy rooted in reform
Old Kempton’s story actually traces directly to the modern rebirth of Australian whisky. In the early 1990s, Bill Lark — now widely considered the godfather of Tasmanian whisky — questioned why his home state, with its clean air and cool climate, couldn’t produce single malt on par with Scotland. The answer? A centuries-old law prohibits small-scale distilling.
With persistence and political support, Lark had that law overturned in 1992, opening the door not just for his namesake Lark Distillery but for an entire generation of craft producers. Among them: Old Kempton, co-founded by Bill and Lyn Lark themselves, originally under the name Redlands Estate Distillery in 2012 before relocating and rebranding three years later.
The distillery now operates out of Dysart House — a former 1840s coaching inn in Kempton, Tasmania — with its old stables converted into the production facility.
What sets it apart
For an industry that scrambles to make hay while the sun shines, Old Kempton has figuratively taken a scenic route — or strut, if the horse imagery hasn’t quite subsided yet. It produces just 30,000 litres per year, which is minuscule by industry standards, using copper pot stills, low-yield runs, and hands-on cuts determined by taste and nose. Bottling and labelling are still done by hand, with batch numbers filled out with a pen — it’s the ol’ Excel-sheet barrel tracking school of whisky making.
The distillery’s founding philosophy prioritises consistency over experimentation — though the ‘poor’ distillers do have avenues to express themselves. The new make spirit is floral and delicate; a ‘clean’ style of wash that many modern distilleries lean towards. As co-founder Bill Lark put it, the distillers aren’t making “their” whisky — they’re making Old Kempton whisky.
The lineup
Old Stables is the entry point — light, floral, and approachable, it’s a marriage of different single malts and designed to be welcoming to new drinkers. Tawny is a single cask whisky matured in South Australian fortified wine barrels, known for its stewed fruit and orange rind character. Coach House blends Bourbon, Tawny, and Pinot Noir casks into a bold, high-strength dram that carries its weight well and opens beautifully with the addition of a touch of water.
Then there’s Solera 2018 — Old Kempton’s take on fractional blending inspired by Spanish sherry traditions. Every six months, half of the 500-litre Portuguese port cask is drawn and replaced with a new marriage of mature whiskies. Unlike Glenfiddich’s solera vat system which aims for batch-to-batch consistency, Old Kempton’s version embraces the natural inclinations, and each batch reflects the discretion of the distillers to find complementary notes, steering the flavour like some never-ending prog-rock jam.
Quietly arriving for the long game
Why now? CEO Martin Termine, who spent years promoting Tasmanian wine and spirits in his former role with the local government, says the timing is finally right, both in stock maturity and market readiness. Singapore is a whisky-literate market, and Old Kempton, with its restrained style and deliberate pace, may be the right kind of whisky for drinkers who care less about the algorithm and more about the arc.
The Old Kempton range of whiskies are available in Singapore from The Whisky Shop Singapore and The Liquor Shop.
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