The distillery that bet everything on Australian rye – made from Mallee grain and sold back into rye's American heartland.

The proof that Australian whisky was never only an eastern-states story – Limeburners, made with Albany water in WA's far south.

The moderniser. Starward matured whisky in red-wine barrels and made Australian single malt a category you could actually find on a shelf.

A one-man distillery making rye from grain grown in its own paddocks – the idiosyncratic origin of Australian rye.

The distillery that proved great Australian single malt didn't have to come from Tasmania – David Baker's Victorian pioneer.

There is no modern Australian whisky without Lark. Bill Lark helped overturn a 150-year distilling ban, founded Lark in 1992, and opened the door every other distillery walked through.