Morris of Rutherglen
Morris of Rutherglen
Australia's most awarded wine and whisky brand.
Established in 1859, the Morris family is one of the most acclaimed fortified wine producers in the world.
Craftsmanship in blending, aging and creating world-class fortified wine has been passed down through six generations of the family, allowing Morris to truly master the creation of extraordinary flavour in winemaking and now today, Australian single malt whisky.
The unique and distinctive Morris of Rutherglen flavour comes from unrivalled access to fortified wine barrels for finishing the whisky, it’s these barrels which have held the world’s most highly-awarded fortified wines.
In 1859, George Francis Morris established a vineyard and winery near Rutherglen in North Easten Victoria. He planted a trial vineyard plot of ten acres at “Fairfield”, just two miles east of the current Morris “Mia Mia” location.
In the 1940s, third generation family winemaker, Charles Tempest Morris, guided the winery through an era of great depression and war, acting as a pillar of strength. Charles also saw the introduction of our hybrid copper pot and column still, originally used to manufacture neutral grape spirit for our world famous fortified wines.
In 2016, the distillery was built around this unique and original still, which was made in the 1930s in Adelaide and installed at the Morris of Rutherglen site in 1941 – breathing new life into the distillery. It has been meticulously restored and in recognition of its awakening after decades of slumber, the still has been named “Aurora”, a nod to the princess in Sleeping Beauty. We also have a second identical still called “Ella” as she too will come to the ball. What began as an experiment blossomed into the creation of a premium single malt whisky, boasting flavours as rich and unique as the region itself. Pure filtered water is then used throughout the production process.
Today, we combine decades of tradition, our heritage still and ancient fortified casks with contemporary techniques to create wines and whisky that is a true expression of time and place. We create a unique MORRIS Whisky style that speaks to our home in Rutherglen. Made with nothing but 100% Australian premium malted barley which is then brewed and fermented in our family owned brewery for total quality control.
The barrels used for maturation are a combination of French and American oak, ex-red wine barrels sourced from our family-owned wineries in the Barossa and Coonawarra regions of South Australia. They are prepared by hand at our private cooperage to a specific method, which imparts the unique Morris of Rutherglen flavour profile.
Our Australian single malt whiskies are skilfully finished in hand selected barrels; some of which have held the world’s most highly awarded fortified wines from Morris of Rutherglen. It is the art in our finishing technique that creates the unique and distinctive MORRIS Whisky taste, and allows us to experiment with depth of flavour imparted from our award winning fortified wines.
Following fifth generation family winemaker David Morris’ retirement, his son, Madden, became the sixth-generation winemaker, continuing a tradition in producing both wines and whiskies in conjunction with Head Distiller, Darren Peck. Morris Australian Single Malt Whisky is now sold in over 10 markets, with 6 core products and more whiskies in development for future release.
