Spirit brand made at an existing distillery

Bars, restaurants, bottle shops, gift stores, online buyers and event customers.

You sell each bottle for more than the production, bottling, packaging, excise and marketing cost. Margins are lower than a full distillery but you avoid the big equipment spend.

• Developing a flavour and brand people want
• Selling to venues and retailers
• Organising production runs and stock
• Basic design and social media or online selling

• Check who holds the excise licence and pays excise on your spirit, and what you need yourself to sell it
• Check which state or territory liquor licence you need to wholesale or sell online, and rules on delivery and age checks
• Contract terms with the host distillery: minimum runs, recipe ownership and what happens if they stop
• Label and trade mark rules; check your brand name is available before printing
• Public liability and product liability insurance
• Stock tied up in bottles and pallets before you have sales

Estimates suggest startup costs are typically around $15,000 to $60,000, depending on recipe development, bottling, labels and your first production run. Stock in bottles and pallets is paid for before you have sales, so allow for that in your budget.

Check who holds the excise licence and pays excise on your spirit, and what you need yourself to sell it. Also check which state or territory liquor licence applies to wholesaling or selling online, plus delivery and age-check rules, and label and trade mark rules.

Estimates suggest monthly revenue is typically around $3,000 to $15,000, depending on your range, pricing and how many bars, bottle shops and online buyers you reach. Check contract terms with the host distillery, including minimum runs and recipe ownership.