Ex Libris x Hellyers Road

Each year, the Ex Libris collection showcases a whisky distillery located beyond the borders of Scotland. The series’ name, borrowed from the world of books, references the ‘ex libris’ labels used to indicate a book’s ownership: a nod to the art of collecting, so beloved by both bibliophiles and spirits enthusiasts. The collection—a range of single casks bottled at cask strength—also pays homage to an iconic author from the same country as the featured distillery.

For this newest edition, Ex Libris has set a course for Tasmania, an island south of Australia, and more specifically for Hellyers Road. The distillery, founded in Burnie by a collective of dairy farmers in 1999, is named after British surveyor and architect Henry Hellyer (1790-1832). Hellyer played a key role in the exploration and mapping of Tasmania: the road he plotted from the coast to the island’s interior in 1827 —braving near-uncharted territory and extreme environmental conditions—has become a symbol of adventure and discovery.

The three bottlings are titled Waking Dreams, The Narrow Road, and Seize the Fire, in reference to the titles of novels and other writings by Richard Flanagan, one of the leading voices in contemporary Australian literature, born in 1961 in Tasmania. Flanagan’s work has been translated into many languages, and blends intimate memoir, collective history, and political activism.

In a most wonderful turn of events, his most famous work (and Booker Prize-winner) The Narrow Road to the Deep North was published the same year Hellyers Road’s Pinot Noir Finish was crowned Best World Whisky at Whisky Live Paris 2013. The three selected expressions serve as a showcase for Tasmania—often nicknamed ‘The Island of Inspiration’—by bringing together two of its greatest ambassadors.