Hoochery Distillery is a farm-based microdistillery located in Kununurra, Western Australia, founded by Raymond Bernard "Spike" Dessert III. The distillery produces approximately 50,000 gallons of rum annually, and also produces gin, whiskey and liqueurs. It is the oldest continually operating legal distillery in Western Australia.[1]
California-born Dessert founded the Hoochery in 1995 as an outgrowth of the R.B. Dessert Seed Co., which he founded in 1986.[2] Interested in diversifying the farm business,[3][4] Dessert originally planned to open a "cellar door winery", but opted to make rum because grapes aren't grown in the Ord River region and sugar cane is.[5] Dessert died in December 2017; his daughter, Kalyn Fletcher, now runs the company.
Hoochery rums are produced from local sugar cane and molasses that is vat fermented on-site and distilled in a hand-built pot still.[6] Distillate is aged for two to 15 years in re-charred oak barrels. The distillery's flagship Ord River Rum was first offered for sale in 1999.[2] A range of seven-, 10-, and 15-year rums debuted in 2018,[7] named "Spike's Reserve" in honor of Dessert.[8]
In 2019, the Australian Distilled Spirits Awards created the Raymond B “Spike” Dessert III Trophy for Champion Rum in Dessert's memory. The Hoochery's Ord River Rum Single Barrel Selection won the inaugural award, as well as the gold medal for Dark Overproof Rum.[11]