The business transformed itself into Old Kempton Distillery with the move to Dysart House, a Coaching inn, built by William Ellis in the 1840’s. One of the three coaching inns on the road between Launceston to Hobart, this heritage listed Georgian style mansion, the adjoining Stables and Coachhouse are integral to the Company’s identity. The History of Dysart House and Old Kempton Distillery are now greatly intertwined ensuring the ‘Spirit of Ellis Lives on’. Its award-winning Embezzler gin is named after William Ellis. William was sent to Tasmania after being convicted of embezzlement. Although the amount he stole was not what he was eventually convicted for, it is said that William, once arriving in Tasmania, worked hard, was pardoned, married well and then used the rest of the money he stole to build Dysart House.

The Six Shillings Gin is named after the amount William Ellis was convicted of stealing. Although the true figure was just shy of 7000 pounds, William Ellis only ever admitted to the embezzlement of six shillings.

The Barrel Aged gin focuses on William Ellis’s story later in life. William Ellis ran a reputable coaching inn however he was caught on more than one occasion with casks and alcohols that he should not have had. William didn’t particularly care what spirit he put in casks and sold them to his guests from what is now the
“Cask Lounge”. A line drawing of Dysart House features prominently on the labels and tins of
Old Kempton Distillery’s whiskies.

The convict brick Old Stables, once home to 22 horses and used as the Company’s temporary bond store, is the name given to the Company’s introduction to single malt whisky. Coachhouse Cask Strength whisky pays tribute
to the temporary home of the Company’s distillery until the new facility was commissioned in 2021.

During this time, the coachhouse played an integral role in the story of Old Kempton Distillery, producing whiskies that will be enjoyed far into the future.

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