For April and Mark, owners of Wolf & Woman Distillery, finding a key ingredient on the local shores of the Illawarra proved to be a success.

Hand-foraged local sea lettuce is now a staple in each of their gins – the Signature, Classic, Navy and soon-to-be-released Pink and Barrel-Aged Gins. Native botanicals are prioritised across the board, down to the garnishes in the cocktails served at their cellar door in Bellambi.

“Lavender, chamomile, citrus, and honey are some of the botanicals you will find in our Classic Gin. Mountain pepper leaf is the key botanical to our Signature and Navy Gin, and we source the majority of these ingredients locally," April said.

“We have quotes [on our labels] and they relate and tie back to either how we've created our gins or relate to connections to their names. The quote on the side [of the Signature Gin] says, ‘The willingness to take risks is the path to success’ – we took a risk, and it paid off.”

The husband and wife team spent the better part of a decade learning to distil. Out of their home hobby came a passion for making spirits and a 10-year plan to open a distillery of their own.

Even after years of study, mentoring and training to understand the craft, abandoning stable full-time careers in other industries to follow their dream was a daunting decision. But, in 2021, they took that leap, quitting their jobs and securing a commercial space for their whisky and gin distillery, cellar door and bar in Bellambi. 

Amplifying their anxieties was the challenge of starting a business amid pandemic restrictions, while tradespeople were unable to work and the couple were home-schooling their two youngest children.

“That was probably the biggest and scariest decision of our lives, chucking [our careers] in and starting a business from scratch,” April said.

“The pandemic was probably the biggest challenge in setting up a new business during this time. The setbacks were gutting, but it was also a blessing in disguise now we look back at it – it gave us time to create and perfect all things Wolf & Woman.

“There's a lot of heart that's gone into that place because we've done it all by hand, but we loved every bit of it all.”

Though there were hard times, support from each other saw them through. After all, they said: “What better person to start a business with than the person you have chosen to spend your life with.”

Their first whisky won’t be ready until at least 2027 due to the ageing process, so they first set their sights on gin. First out was their Classic Gin, then the Signature and Navy Gins. 

“We’ve fallen madly in love with gin over the past few years and believe with the countless botanical combinations there is a gin out there for everyone, which is kind of exciting,” April said.

At their cellar door, everyone from amateurs to aficionados can sample and learn about the gins made on site, get a taste for Australian whiskies from a large selection chosen by Mark or enjoy a revolving cocktail menu every Friday and Saturday afternoon and evening.

In January 2023, the couple also launched an on-site gin school, allowing participants to create their own gin to take home and share in the excitement of the distilling process. 

For the past three years, World Gin Day – held annually on June 10 – has heralded big news for Wolf and Woman Distillery. On World Gin Day in 2021, April and Mark announced the distillery would be opening in Bellambi. In 2022, the couple officially switched on their equipment ahead of opening their cellar door. This year, April and Mark announced their plans to expand into a bigger Bellambi warehouse space so they can cater for functions and create a larger outdoor area. 

Visitors on World Gin Day also had the first chance to sample and take home the limited-edition Barrel-Aged Gin, a small-batch mixture of marine-inspired gins aged in an ex-sherry and whisky cask, which had less than 30 bottles available.

While their cellar door will remain open and the distillery operational, April and Mark are again preparing for a bout of transformation.

“It's going to be a very long process – we would like to be operational in our new space by summer, 2025,” April said.

"We are excited about this new journey and looking forward to having a larger premises, possibly an outdoor area… and most importantly, more storage for our whisky barrels."

You can find Wolf & Woman Distillery at Unit 14, 6 Bellambi Lane, Bellambi, across from Holy Spirit Oval.