NEVER NEVER’S NEW VODKA LEANS INTO LONG, GLORIOUS SUMMER AFTERNOONS

Ready for long, bright afternoons, ice clinking and martinis poured for friends as the sun slides toward dinner?

Never Never Distilling Co. is leaning into that mood with Signature Vodka, its first permanent release beyond gin, built to anchor warm-weather cocktails at home and at the bar.

The South Australian distillery says the vodka aims for the ultimate in smooth drinking, marking a shift from its juniper-forward reputation to a spirit designed for clean, elegant sipping that suits the current martini revival.

Signature Vodka is distilled from Australian wheat spirit, then enriched with distilled olive, coconut and avocado oils.

The liquid is filtered through activated carbon for 16 hours and blended with McLaren Vale water that has been adjusted with natural salts.

The company positions this as a way to deliver a long, silky finish with subtle notes of olive, white chocolate, honeyed macadamia and coconut cream.

“We built a textural vodka using the techniques learned over eight years of making some of Australia’s best gins,” said co-founder Sean Baxter.

“This isn’t a departure, it’s an extension of what we already do well, and it gives us the chance to bring something genuinely new to a category that has long been defined by sameness."

The timing lines up with vodka’s renewed momentum as martinis surge back into fashion, which Baxter describes as “perfect alignment between a local innovation and a global cocktail trend.”

Presentation matters here. The frosted bottle and metallic label nod to the premium set, while practical touches such as added grip, batching gradients and a textured base aim to make life easier for bartenders and home mixologists.

Recognition is already rolling in. Signature Vodka has been nominated in the 2025 Spirits Business Awards for Innovation, and head distiller Tim Boast is shortlisted for Best Global Distiller.