Employment in the spirit manufacturing industry increased by 240 per cent between 2016 and 2020, according to recent census data.

The boom is a sign that people are changing the way they drink, Murrurundi distillery owner Geoff Drummond said.

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Instead of reaching for the favourites of decades gone by, people are taking premium craft spirits off the shelves.

"I think what we're doing is we're displacing the majors," he said.

"They're probably not noticing at the moment, but they will."

He likened it to the growth curve felt by the wine industry when customers got a taste for homegrown grapes.

Distilleries in the New England region include Black Snake in Narrabri, Dobson's in Kentucky and Glen Gowrie in Glen Innes.

And plans for a multi-million dollar small scale distillery in the country music capital were recently approved by Tamworth Regional Council.

"We're well represented by a number of really fine distilleries," Mr Drummond said.

Distilleries and regional areas are a great mix, he said.

"It's an area where regional areas have got the advantage over the city."

There's more space, and the costs are lower.

"If you want to establish a distillery, which for all intents and purposes, is a manufacturing facility," he said.

"Trying to do that within an urban area means a lot more hurdles with local council to go through all of the planning requirements.

"The price of land within the city as compared to the country is completely different."

Mr Drummond opened Magpie's Distilling in November 2021, after he and his partner made the tree change to Murrurundi.

He and his partner worked the corporate life in the city for decades.

It wasn't until they saw the potential of their new property and location that they decided to start a small craft distillery.

"Whilst moving out of Sydney was part of the grand plan, starting a distillery wasn't," he said.

"In some ways, the place chose us rather than the other way around."

The couple don't regret what they ordered.

"It was just something that both of us wanted," he said.

"To have the opportunity to work together, create something that our passions were behind.

"And represent something - certainly to Australia and hopefully the world - of this beautiful location of Murrurundi that we moved to."

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