Owner, developer and farmer Spike Dessert fell in love with the Kimberley when he saw it in 1972. In 1995 with the onset of Sugar Cane being grown in the Ord River Valley, he saw a way to diversify his dream and created the Hoochery - the oldest continuously operating distillery in Western Australia.

Now if you are wondering about the name Hoochery - well the name was trademarked by Spike from the word Hooch which goes back to the Hutanuwu (later modified to Hoochinoo) Indian tribe of Alaska who made alcoholic liquor - this is until it became the more popular name for the illegal activity of bootlegging! (source: the Macquarie Dictionary)

Built on his farm just outside of Kununurra in the heart of the beautiful Ord River Valley is a small pot distillery, which has the capacity to produce over 50,000 bottles of Ord River Rum a year. Our Ord River Rum is thought to be the very first Rum ever produced in Western Australia and is gaining an excellent reputation for being a genuine traditional premium rum.

The Hoochery stands proud at being a 100% Australian owned and operated family business and wherever possible using locally grown ingredients. Ord River Rum is made from local sugar cane, Wet Season rainwater and yeast that is all vat fermented, pot distilled, aged in Oak barrels and hand bottled. The Hoochery runs tours and tastings from their Rustic Outback Style Pub made out of recycled materials from an older era of the Ord!

 Our newest product this year is Kimberley Corn Liquor, made from 100% Kimberley Corn Mash and filtered through Plantation Mahogany Charcoal for a smooth taste!  Last year we introduced our Barrelling Strength Rum, this is bottled straight from our aging barrels at 128.1 proof and can be purchased from our Rum Shop. The Hoochery also has Aguardiente that is an Australian Ouzo and Cane Spirit which is very similar to Cachaca the very popular Brazilian spirit. As well we have our ever popular liqueur Cane Royale that is a lovely mixture of Rum, chocolate and coffee. In addition please note because of our size and the fact that we hand bottle we are able to offer special bottling and labelling services to corporate customers and for special occasions. Such as 50ml bottles used by the Ord Muster and Qantas.

Wholesale Buyers can now buy Hoochery products even easier!  We have recently signed on with Australian Liquor Marketers who will be our National Distributors.  Our two main products Ord River Rum 40% and Cane Royale Liqueur can now be bought by bottle-shops, hotels and pubs by contacting their local ALM Account Manager or subsidiaries.   

When it comes to the Hoochery Distillery there are no gimmicks, no fancy labels, it is simply a bloody-good-dinky-di, Kimberley spirit! Do not be fooled by imitations - we are the makers of the only Rum in Western Australia, we have the only genuine Kimberley made alcoholic products, you just need to ask the others where they were really made, distilled and bottled -- they won't say Kununurra!

View Printable Retail Order Form         Wholesale Buyers