Natalie Fryar, previously sparkling winemaker for Jansz Tasmania, is now the proud owner of her own gin brand in the southern state. Setting up shop permanently in Tasmania, Fryar has partnered with co-owner and new business partner, Kim Seagram, to launch The Abel Gin Company.

Fryar and Seagram are currently making the gin using their own still named Genevive out at Launceston Airport’s heritage-listed Hangar 17, the same space used by Launceston Distilling. The pair has already made and bottled 2,000 litres of their gin with another 2,000 underway.

The gins are described by The Abel Gin Co. as, “Tasmania is a sum of its parts; the native, the imported and the naturalised as is Abel Tasmanian Gin.

“Handcrafted and carefully nurtured to ensure each and every still run meets the high standard, only freshly harvested botanicals at the peak of their flavour are used in our blends ensuring the brightest and freshest flavours in our gins. Native botanicals foraged from around the state make this tipple unique…gin you could make nowhere else.”

According to Seagram, a number of licensees in Launceston and Hobart have already raised their hands for orders of the gin and Dan Murphy’s has expressed interest in stock for its stores across the country.

The company’s first two gins include Essence and Quintessence, each retailing for RRP $88.

Essence is a vibrant and fresh gin with citrus notes and a delicate floral background. Quintessence is dark and brooding, rich and complex, with multiple layers to entice even the most jaded gin palate.



Fryar and Seagram recommend Essence with a tonic or dressed up as a Gin Daisy or French 75 and Quintessence in a Martini or Negroni.

Fryar will man the production at The Abel Gin Co. as Head Distiller and Blender, while Seagram will manage marketing and sales.

Fryar is a multi-award winning winemaker and is well known by many amongst the trade for her involvement in establishing Jansz Tasmania as one of Australia’s pre-eminent sparkling wines.

The Abel Gin Co. said explaining Fryar’s move from wine to gin, “The importance of terroir or provenance is embedded in Natalie’s DNA so her quest became how to share the unique spirit of the state in a bottle.

“In these two gins you will taste her journey throughout Tasmania displaying the heady aromas of Cradle Mountain and the crisp sharp notes of the temperate rainforest to the delicate floral perfumes of the East Coast. These gins are unique to Tasmania, they are the Essence and Quintessence of native Tasmanian gin.”

Seagram also has her roots in the alcohol business, having followed in the footsteps of her great, great grandfather, Joseph E. Seagram, founder of Seagram’s in Canada, once the world’s largest producer of alcohol. She ran the small Lally Gully Vineyard in Tasmania for some years until it was sold to Taltarni/Cloverhill in 1998. Today, Seagram and her husband run both the Stillwater Restaurant and Black Cow Bistro in Launceston.

For sales and distribution, contact rascui@bigpond.net.au. The Abel Gin Co.’s website should be up and running in the coming week www.abelgin.com.au