In The Neighbourhood: Hugh Leech From Marionette

Marionette Liqueur  has become become a renowned Melbourne brand, winning best liqueur in Australia for the second year and transforming the way cocktails are made by their commitment to liqueurs made with Australian Produce. 

When the opportunity arose to collaborate on a product, it was an obvious choice. We have countless synergies with Marionette and have been long-time friends, deeply admiring what they consistently accomplish in the world of liqueurs. This this partnership is a celebration on our shared mission of producing local, independently made products and an aim to create a quality liqueur that celebrates an Australian expression at its best. As part of our collaboration, we caught up with Hugh Leech, co-founder of Marionette and true liqueur fanatic, to learn more about the story behind their brand. Read the interview below.

The team behind Marionette - Shaun Byrne, Nick Tesar, Hugh Leech, Lauren Bonokowski (Left to right)

--  Marionette started after four industry pals came together after discovering a gap in the market. Tell us about this discovery and what journey led you all to this meeting point? 

We all worked in Melbourne CBD for a group that was really formative in our approach to hospitality and product. They venues all had a really clear story, and balanced nerd factor with an equal measure of fun.  Australian Gin, vodka and whisky were starting to gain steam at the time; and with the produce here we thought it was crazy to not be using Australian fruit for cocktail staples we were using on the daily. We wanted to create a playful brand with quality at its core. 

-- Coffee guru to passionate distiller, were you always obsessed with liqueurs or did your career through hospitality shape this?

Definitely through my career in hospitality, I knew very little about liqueurs before working in cocktail bars. Working with lots of really great fresh produce and seeing the difference high quality products can make in a drink really opened my eyes to the world of liqueurs and just how amazing they can be!

-- Marionette is built on using ingredients sourced from Australian farmers. Can you walk us through the key steps you take when selecting a farmer and how working directly with the farmer is important for you?

Finding a farmer who has really great produce and shares our values is normally the hardest part- farmer’s don’t usually have websites or Instagram advertising so we got in contact with our growers in all sorts of ways. Some are through family friends, other industry contacts, or in the case of our orange farmer Glen by driving out to Mildura and pulling into farm gates until we found someone who grew Seville oranges. 

Working directly with farmers is a cornerstone of what we do at Marionette, for lots of reasons. It gives us a great connection to the produce we make our liqueurs with and enables us to get amazing fruit when it’s in season, sometimes it’s only been picked 12-24 hours before we get it. It also allows us to help farmers by taking seconds or marked fruit that would otherwise go to cattle-feed or juicing, and paying a good price for that.

-- Where do you draw inspiration from in new product development?

We try to be open to ideas from all angles. Sometimes it might be a grower, who might have some fruit and asks if we can use it. We’ll of course look at classic liqueurs for inspiration, as most of the products we have are versions of classic European staples. Other times it might be a bar that is interested in a particular product, either an Australian version of an existing category or something completely new. 

-- It seems like you, Nick, Shaun and Lauren each bring unique skills to the table. Was this a fortunate coincidence, or was it intentional? How do you feel your different strengths contribute to working together as a team?

I think probably a bit of both. Shaun originally came up with the idea,and he’s very creative and ideas driven. I think having Lauren involved with her really incredible skill set of design, branding, and alcohol brand development was absolutely crucial and intentional, especially early on. Nick’s great strength is his amazing depth of understanding of fruit and how to extract it, and of course his great industry connections. I think those unique skills we each have really help us in terms of different perspectives across the whole business.

-- At The Gospel, we have always been so impressed with the integrity that seems to be central to everything that Marionette does. Is integrity a spoken focus for your business or does it simply percolate due to the people involved?

I think it’s really a result of the people involved, we all really value that from any brand and product, so it has just naturally been a priority for us with Marionette and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

-- From your earlier days bartending to today, as an integral part of the Australian Distilling community, what have you seen change?

I think probably the biggest change is just the depth and breadth of Australian spirits. When I started bartending at Gin Palace there were maybe 5 Australian gins, a few rums and a couple of whiskeys etc. Now there’s hundreds of producers in all spirit categories, including more focussed producers like us and even more niche stuff like Shochu.

-- What do you feel excited about and equally, what concerns you about the future of the industry?

I’m really excited to see Australian spirits take the world stage, and you are already starting to see that happen with a couple of brands but I’d love to see all sorts of Aussie spirits go global. 

I do get a bit concerned with everything you see going on in craft beer at the moment, if you’ll see the same wave of distilleries going into administration but fingers crossed that doesn’t happen and everyone drinks more local spirits.

-- What's your favourite place to go to in Melbourne?

At the moment one of my favourite places is Brico, on Nicholson St. They do great food and excellent booze options across the board, and have a beautiful courtyard out the back that is going to be awesome as the weather warms up.

-- Is there something (other than liqueur) that you are obsessed with?

Fortified wines, I love vermouth, sherry, and mistelle!