What do you do when a career-ending back injury takes everything you’ve known for 25 years off the table? If you’re Paul Poulter, you spend your recovery time on the couch, deep in YouTube rabbit holes, and you build a craft distillery. In this episode of Launch Spotlight, host Eddie the Chef heads out to the stunning high country of Glenaladale in regional Victoria to meet the founder of High Country Hooch Distilling Company — a man who turned forced stillness into something seriously impressive.

Paul’s journey began in 2021 after a serious back injury ended his life as a heavy diesel mechanic. With time on his hands and a lifelong love of whiskey, he started distilling as a hobby. When friends tasted the results and told him to sell it, something clicked. What followed was two and a half years of relentless persistence — navigating a council planning process that had never seen a distillery application before, calling planners weekly to stay on their radar, and investing money into a business he legally couldn’t sell from yet. Eight months before they would even accept his application. Another 14 months of back-and-forth after that.

He finally secured his wholesale licence in May 2024, then retail six months later. The results since have been remarkable: from 2,000 bottles sold in his first year to over 6,000 in the six months that followed, and a distribution deal with Australia’s third largest distributor — secured the same way everything else was, by being the squeaky wheel and letting the product speak for itself during in-store tastings that left bottle shop owners shaking their heads in disbelief.

Paul talks candidly about what makes High Country Hooch different: every bottle passes through his hands, every label applied in-house, every batch tasted before it leaves the property. The brand carries the same spirit — irreverent, authentic, and unapologetically regional. Their hazelnut liqueur is called “Nut Job.” Their fermenter is named “The Ferminator.” The still? “Stillvester.” It’s a business that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that personality is exactly what’s connecting with customers.

There’s a long game being played here too. Paul’s vodkas and liqueurs fund the cash flow while whiskey barrels quietly age in the background — years away from generating revenue but already filling up. And out on the farm, a converted shearing shed is becoming a tasting room, a grain silo has been transformed into a toilet block, and another is being turned into a band stage. A Scottish Highland Festival is already booked. Sixty to eighty visitors every weekend is the 12-month goal.

Paul’s advice for anyone thinking about turning a passion into a business? Be prepared for the long game. Surround yourself with people who believe in you. And if something is worth building, build it as if you’re never going to sell it. At knock-off time, he sits in his tasting room, looks out at the mountains, drinks a glass of his own whiskey, and feels completely at peace. That’s what success looks like in the high country.