Peter Bignell came to whisky-making by a strange agricultural accident. Back in 2008, his farm in Kempton yielded a bumper crop of rye – it was one of the best Peter had experienced in his 40-odd years growing grain. Faced with all that extra rye, Peter did the obvious thing: He bought a welder, got some lessons off a mate, built his own still and started making whisky. Other Tasmanian distillers were happy to help out with advice and tips, and Peter’s background in agricultural science didn’t hurt either. Soon, this bespoke rye distillery – which it’s worth noting, is the only one in Australia – was thriving. Everything at Belgrove is done a little differently. Peter collects used cooking oil from the roadhouse next to his farm, then uses this oil to fuel his distillery (yep, the good old dim sim plays its part in making some of Tasmania’s best whisky). It also powers his farm machinery and heats his house. The rye used in the whisky is grown a couple hundred metres from the distillery. This grain is malted on site as well – which saves on having to transport it.  And once all the sugar has been extracted from the grain, Peter uses the leftover mash to feed his sheep .