Holly Klintworth

Holly Klintworth, Managing Director and second generation distiller at her family business Bass & Flinders Distillery believes that Australian craft brandy is at a turning point. She aims to support its growth and development in a bid to raise the profile and potential of Australian brandy both locally and internationally.

Without a clear pathway for skills development and growth in brandy manufacturing within Australia, Holly seeks to grow the local craft spirit knowledge base by learning from the world's best practice brandy producers in Cognac, France. She is driven to lead by example and share her knowledge and experiences in order to inspire other local producers. Holly is a staunch advocate of the craft spirits industry, as committee member of the Australian Distiller’s Association. As a female in a male-dominated industry, and the youngest woman on the ADA committee, she also aims to motivate other young women to take on the challenge of producing premium Australian brandy.

Following in the footsteps of her father and mentor, Holly has led the growth of Bass & Flinders from a micro distillery and passion project to see her family business become a well-known and highly respected producer of vine-to-bottle gins, brandies and liqueurs, proudly made from scratch at their facility in Dromana on the Mornington Peninsula. Bass & Flinders is a multi-award winning distillery, having won a gold medal and trophy for Australia’s Best Brandy at the Taste of Australia Awards 2020, as well as being awarded Australian Brandy Distillery of the Year at the Melbourne International Spirits Competition 2021. Holly holds a Master of Business Administration graduate degree from RMIT University.