Whiskey business: Inside Cavanagh's Whiskey and Ale House

They did their research, crunched the numbers and decided it was a worthy investment. The region is a tourist hub for wine and spirit lovers, and the whisky market was virtually untapped. “It’s a nice point of difference,” Brendan says.

Now 34, Brendan has been a whisky aficionado since he was 20 when “me and the lads got free tickets to a whisky show”. His love of whisky evolved over the years as he “got a little bit older and could afford a little more expensive bottles”. He took more interest in the intricacies of different regions and distilling techniques at a time when the Australian whisky scene was on a rapid upward trajectory.

“Tassie took off first,” he says. “It put Australian whisky on the map.”

Among the more than 300 distilleries in Australia, about 50 are estimated to produce at least one whisky product. Port Melbourne’s Starward Whisky has enjoyed global success since first launching 15 years ago. In 2022, it was the most-awarded distillery at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. “They’re crushing it,” Brendan says.

Meanwhile, in Brunswick, The Gospel’s Straight Rye Whiskey was recently named the second-best rye whisky in the world.

“It’s a really exciting time,” Brendan says, adding that Cavanagh’s Whisky and Alehouse was the “marrying of passion and opportunity in the Yarra Valley”.

Brendan and Kate leased an 80-square-metre commercial property on Healesville’s main drag off the Maroondah Highway, encouraged by the foot traffic of the local area.

“The same day we signed the lease, we found out we were pregnant with our first kid,” Brendan says. “We’ve been open for seven months now and we’re absolutely stoked.”

The shop had formerly been occupied by an Asian restaurant, and an American diner prior to that, so it was suited to a hospitality offering.

“It was a shell,” Brendan says. “Everything was pretty neglected. We applied for the lease there along with a proposal for what we wanted to do with the space.”

The dated black-and-white chequered floors were replaced with floating timber floorboards, and a bar made of upcycled railway sleepers from the old Healesville Station was installed. Classy LED backlights showcase the spirits on offer. After all, a whisky bar must inherently be classy.

Brendan has curated a mix of whiskeys, roughly one-third from Australia, one-third from Scotland and the rest from around the world.

He has been surprised by the clientele. Gone are the days when whisky was the nightcap of an esteemed, greying gentleman. “Now I have a bunch of 20-year-olds coming in,” he says.

It has also been well received by local residents.

“Being a bit of a tourist town, I was expecting it to be a 50/50 split of tourists and locals but it’s closer to 90 per cent locals,” Brendan says

Being such a small town, there is not a large supply of retail premises in Healesville. A 150-square-meter shop on the Maroondah Highway is currently for lease through Walsh & Whitelock.

And a suite of four retail tenancies in a new retail development, also on the Maroondah Highway, are available for between $42,000 to $60,000 a year. The shops are set to open in July.

Gill Property Group’s Ian Robertson says Healesville is gentrifying and more boutique offerings are cropping up in the retail space. “It’s a nice part of the world, and people are recognising that.”

The popular Yarra Valley Tourist Trail and the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary attract day visitors and overnight tourists.

“It’s a place to go for the weekend,” Robertson says. “All the cafes are chock-a-block.

“Healesville is becoming stronger. It’s got two elements: the tourism, and it’s also where people decide to relocate to get out of the hustle and bustle, or downsize.”

Robertson says the town’s vacancy rate is low. “There hasn’t been a massive turnover of shops.”