Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin is the gin that put Australian craft distilling on the world map — a multi award-winning modern classic that captures the essence of contemporary Australia’s heritage in both Europe and Asia. Crafted to deliver the best of all worlds, it is a perfect, classic gin and something that will fascinate and delight even the most hardened gin fanatic in equal measure. Spicy but with great citrus, and unmistakably Australian in character.
Tasting Notes
Appearance
Crystal clear with the luminous purity of a gin distilled with exceptional care and precision in the Yarra Valley.
Aroma
Aromatic and expressive — whole Australian oranges lead with a highly aromatic citrus character that supports the spicier botanicals beneath. Cardamom, cinnamon, and star anise add rich, fruitcake warmth, whilst Tasmanian pepperberry leaf provides heat without aggression and lemon myrtle offers a beautifully native alternative to lemon peel.
Palate
Spicy, citrus-forward, and deeply satisfying — a gin of genuine complexity that reveals its layers progressively. The whole orange character is the backbone, the native botanicals are the soul, and the result is a modern Australian gin of real distinction and balance.
Pairs With
Exceptional with premium tonic and a slice of fresh orange to echo the whole-orange distillation. The natural foundation for a Four Pillars Negroni, or any cocktail that benefits from a spicy, citrus-driven gin of genuine character. Equally rewarding served neat over ice.
Awards
Gold — Global Gin Masters 2024
Gin of the Year — The Whisky Exchange 2023
Gold — Hong Kong IWSC 2023
Gold — Global Gin Masters 2023
Master — Global Gin Masters 2022
Master — Global Gin Masters 2021
Gold — San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2021
Gold — London IWSC 2020
Double Gold — Stuttgart ISC 2019
Gold — Stuttgart ISC 2018
Gold — Hong Kong IWSC 2018
Double Gold — New York World Wine & Spirits Competition 2017
Gold — Global Gin Masters 2016
Double Gold — San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2016
Double Gold — San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2014
Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin is distilled in the Yarra Valley using a botanical selection that reflects Australia’s unique position at the intersection of European gin tradition and Asian spice culture. The use of whole Australian oranges — rather than dried peel — is unusual and deliberate: Australian citrus is highly aromatic, and the whole fruit brings a freshness and depth that dried alternatives cannot replicate. Cinnamon and star anise add rich fruitcake tones; Tasmanian pepperberry leaf provides warmth rather than heat; and lemon myrtle — one of Australia’s most celebrated native botanicals — is a beautiful and distinctly Australian alternative to lemon peel. The Rare Dry Gin is the foundation expression of the Four Pillars range and the basis for many of the distillery’s most celebrated limited releases, including the Negroni Gin, Bloody Shiraz Gin, and Olive Leaf Gin.
Producer History
Four Pillars was founded in 2013 in the Yarra Valley by Stuart Gregor, Cameron Mackenzie, and Matt Jones — three friends with a shared passion for gin and a conviction that Australia had something genuinely new to say about the spirit. Starting with a custom-built CARL still named Wilma, the distillery set out to make a gin that was rooted in classic gin tradition but unmistakably Australian in character. The Rare Dry Gin was their first expression and remains their signature — a gin that has won Double Gold at San Francisco, Gold at Hong Kong, and accolades across the world, and helped establish the Yarra Valley as one of the most exciting craft distilling regions in the Southern Hemisphere.
