MEET MAKA
Mike Makatron is painter and multidisciplinary artist who has been reshaping Melbourne for over two decades. His murals climb alleyways, transform forgotten walls, ask quiet questions about human’s relationship with nature in the modern world, impermanence, and what we leave behind.
Mike's work is everywhere in Melbourne — his murals climb brick walls, transform laneways, become part of the city's visual identity. Bees, native flora, skulls, layers of meaning rendered in his unmistakable style.
He's one of the artists who shaped how this city looks and feels.
THE COLLABORATION
For our first seasonal release, a Sour Cherry gin liqueur, instead of designing a new label, we wanted to try something different. We wanted to find someone who could use the bottle like a canvas. A companion piece to what was inside.
Mike's worked across murals, canvas, jerseys, and more. Impermanence runs through it all — some pieces last, others get painted over, destroyed, reclaimed. His themes of nature and how humans intersect with it in the modern world put us at the perfect intersection: we take from nature and present it inside a bottle in a different form. It's something we've tried to convey across our core range, and Mike understood it immediately.
Our families have been steeping sour cherries in fruit brandy every summer for generations. Mike's been painting for over two decades. Both practices are about ritual, craft, and making something people enjoy. Even if it is just a flash of colour on their commute, or an unexpected burst of flavour when a friend hands them a drink. A moment that takes them out of the ordinary.
"One of the most fun things to me is collaborating with someone where there's a conversation beforehand and you're not exactly sure of the end result. There's this interaction and you feed off each other to find this pure creation."
The Reveal
One of the things that drew Mike to the project was working on a double-sided canvas. Unlike our core range products, Mike designed something different for the inside of the bottle. A second image, hidden beneath the liquid. As you drink, it reveals itself.
Meet Sour Cherry
Rich. Complex. Very Cherry.
Fresh Yarra Valley sour cherries meet the mandarin and cinnamon of our Signature Gin to create a vibrant, fruit-driven gin liqueur with depth and warmth.
Sweetened with local bush honey infused with Meyer lemon and lemon myrtle, it carries natural sweetness, gentle spice, and soft citrus.
For generations our families have steeped sour cherries in rakija (an un-aged fruit brandy). Just like making the brandy, it started as a way to use the excess fruit before it spoiled. Created out of necessity, but refined through the years to become the staple taste of summer.
We took that tradition and turned to what we had: gin. The bright mandarin notes and subtle juniper spice from our Signature Gin made the perfect marriage to the sour cherries.
This is our modern take on a family tradition, filtered through Melbourne, shaped by collaboration.
27% ABV | 700ml
How To Drink
Vibrant but not overly sweet.
Easy to drink straight from the fridge, over ice, or mixed into something simple.
See Serving Suggestions below for recipes.
DON'T WANT TO DO THE WORK?
We've bottled up a batch of Cherry Negroni using our Sour Cherry, Australian Dry Gin, and Madenaii's Bitter Rosell vermouth. A summer twist on a classic. All you have to do is pour over ice.
30% ABV | 700ml
Serving Suggestions
Staight
The original method. How it was intended
Chilled out of the fridge
or
Over Ice
Cherry Highball
Mixes well over ice with either:
Soda
Tonic
Giner Beer
Mix to taste, approximately around a 2:1 ratio of mixer to Sour Cherry
Optional: Dash of Signature Gin for a boozier, fresher version
Cherry Spritz
Over Ice
80ml Prosecco
60ml Sour Cherry
30ml Soda Water
Garnish: Orange or maraschino cherry
Cherry Americano
Over Ice
50ml Cherry
20ml Campari
Dash of Soda (Optional)
Garnish: Orange or maraschino cherry
Sherry Cherry
Stir over ice
40ml Sour Cherry
20ml Dry Sherry (Paulo Cortardo or Oloroso)
Optional: 10ml Signature Gin for a more boozy version
Serve: In chilled glass
Garnish: Maraschino cherry
Limited Edition.
Melbourne street artist Mike Makatron created the artwork for this release — the first in our Seasonal Artist Series. There's a hidden image inside the bottle that reveals itself as you drink.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE COLLABORATION HERE
How to Drink.
Vibrant but not overly sweet. Easy to drink straight from the fridge, over ice, or mixed into something simple — soda water, a spritz, a sour, or a cherry negroni.
Don't want to do the work?
We've bottled up a batch of Cherry Negroni using our Sour Cherry, Australian Dry Gin, and Madenaii's Bitter Rosell vermouth. Giving you an all-Australian summer twist on the classic cocktail. All you have to do is pour over ice.
