Four Pillars Sticky Carpet Gin is back by popular demand. The gin is a tribute to Australia’s great hotel front bars with their carpets sticky with beer and thick with stories and secrets. 

The Hotel Esplanade (Espy) in St Kilda, which claims to have the stickiest carpet in Australia, was the original inspiration for the gin, which was first released in 2019.

This time Head Distiller Cameron Mackenzie has swapped out roasted stout for more aromatics and lifted Little Creatures Pale Ale. In making Sticky Carpet, beer is poured into the still along with dried botanicals (juniper, coriander, barley, cassia,
macadamia nuts, orris root, lemon myrtle, honey, lavender, ginger, and lemon peel) and base spirit, then the Cascade and Chinook hops are hung in a bag above the spirit to extract the aromatics – similar to the botanical basket but at a higher temperature, which boosts the extraction.

After coming to the boil, the plates are open for the first half of the distillation before closing and introducing some reflux to the latter half of the gin. This allows for the citrus, hops, and honey characters to come through early, while the malty, textural characters come through quite late. 

Mackenzie said: “The Little Creatures brewers have made a beer that is the benchmark for American-style pale ale, with slightly tropical and resin-y flavours, like Sierra Nevada, my fave US beer. 

“In a way, this is the closest we’ve come to making a Jenever-style of gin. It’s a dense canvas of resin-y juniper with deep brown spice notes. There’s a chewy, malty hop character that hangs onto the macadamia nut and it’s a touch fruity with bright citrus notes, too.

“I know they say the follow-up album is often never better than the first, but I think we’ve done a pretty good job at proving them wrong! Sticky Carpet Gin has become one of our most requested limited-edition gins to bring back from the archives, and I can’t wait to get it out there.”

Partnership with The Pass

Four Pillars Sticky Carpet Gin is available at eight venues across Australia via an exclusive on-premise launch in partnership with pub loyalty program The Pass.

You will find it in NSW at The Winery; in Victoria at Hotel Esplanade, Garden State Hotel and Yarra Botanical; Queensland at Riverland and The Regatta; and Western Australia at the Claremont Hotel.

Signature Sticky Carpet serves

Patrons can enjoy the limited edition gin as a G&T, or as one of the three signature serves created especially for the release: 

• Pine Lime Shot, $11: A playful shot turning a beloved afternoon treat into a party starter with melon, lime, coconut and Four Pillars Sticky Carpet Gin 2.0
• Watermelon G&T, $15: Inspired by the favourite pub beverage memory ‘The Fire Engine’ with Four Pillars Sticky Carpet Gin 2.0, watermelon, citrus and tonic
• Frozen Hard LLB, $18: A frozen rendition of a true pub classic with Four Pillars Sticky Carpet Gin 2.0, lemon, lime and bitters

The Pass app members can score 250 bonus points with every Sticky Carpet Gin 2.0 purchase, which can then be banked and redeemed for credit in any future orders. New sign-ups will also automatically receive a bonus $10 credit to spend instantly.

A launch party will be held at Hotel Esplanade ‘The Espy’ for gin enthusiasts and local patrons to try the new gin release on 17 April 2024.

From 6pm till late, join the team in the Gershwin Room for gin drinks and tunes from local Aussie bands Floodlights and Back Pocket. The team at the Espy will also be handing out free gin and tonics on arrival, so get your free tickets here.

Four Pillars appoints international team