A country that grows wine on this scale has an obvious base spirit available, and 78 Degrees uses it. Grape rather than grain is the foundation here, and the difference is audible before any botanical is counted: a rounder, softer body with a faint vinous quality that no neutral grain spirit provides. Twelve botanicals go on top, several of them native Australian, at 40%.

Vapour distillation is the second decision and it protects the first. Rather than boiling the botanicals in the spirit, the alcohol is passed over them as vapour, which extracts the lighter aromatic material and leaves the heavier, more bitter compounds behind, and the result is noticeably cleaner than maceration would give. Juniper opens resinous and clear. Citrus peel follows with a zesty brightness across the top. The delicate florals sit beneath, lifted rather than cooked by the gentler method, and underneath them the classical roots do the anchoring: angelica supplying dry earth, orris root tying the rest together from below. Coriander seed adds warm spice through the middle. The native botanicals fill in behind without being named individually, and what they contribute is a savoury edge that a European recipe would not have.

Complexity built this carefully needs a plain glass. Neutral tonic, a generous quantity of ice, and a standard measure, since a grape base carries dilution well. Lemon peel follows the citrus and is the plainest choice; anything herbal suits the savoury side better. Double Gold at the 2023 San Francisco World Spirits Competition and Gold at the 2024 World Gin Competition suggest the method convinced the judges. Building a gin on the by-product of an industry the country already excels at is the obvious move, and few take it. It ends resinous, citric and savoury.