Chris Hemsworth Joins Archie Rose as Co-Owner Ahead of Global Expansion
3 min
Australian actor Chris Hemsworth has joined Archie Rose Distilling Co. as co-owner and strategic business partner as the Sydney spirits company prepares to enter the United States.
The partnership brings Hemsworth together with Archie Rose founder Will Edwards, with the pair aiming to build greater international recognition for Australian whisky.
Founded in Sydney in 2014, Archie Rose has developed a distinctively Australian range of whiskies, gins and other spirits using locally grown grains and native botanicals.
Hemsworth said his involvement grew from a long-standing admiration for the distiller and its use of Australian ingredients.
“I’ve been a fan of Archie Rose for a long time,” Hemsworth said.
“Wherever I am in the world, tasting an Archie Rose whisky immediately transports me right back home, to that feeling of sitting around a campfire in the Australian bush with my mates.
“Their ethos of only using Australian-grown malts to produce flavour-packed whiskies at their Sydney distillery is truly awesome. They’re a brilliant example of what Australia does best, and I can’t wait to share that with the world.”
Three new Australian whiskies
Three whiskies co-created with Hemsworth are scheduled to launch later in 2026.
Made using 100 per cent Australian-grown malts, the whiskies will be released nationally and introduced to the United States as Archie Rose enters that market for the first time.
Further releases are planned for Asia and New Zealand, followed by expansion into the United Kingdom and European Union in 2027.
Archie Rose will continue to oversee distillation and production, while Hemsworth will contribute to storytelling, creative direction, design and content development.
Edwards said the partnership would help introduce Archie Rose—and Australian spirits more broadly—to a larger international audience.
“Our approach has always been about championing local ingredients to create spirits that taste truly Australian,” Edwards said.
“Having Chris join the business as a co-owner allows us to bring that ambition to the world.
“We aren’t just making spirits; we are using Australia’s raw materials and ingenuity as the base for producing the world’s best whisky, gin and other spirits, telling the stories of the growers and the land beneath them.”
A distinctly Australian approach
Archie Rose works with Australian growers to source heirloom and drought-resistant grain varieties for its whiskies, as well as native botanicals for its gins.
Its whiskies are produced exclusively with Australian-grown malts, including rye and barley cultivated specifically for the distiller.
Each malt is milled, mashed, fermented, distilled and matured separately before the components are combined. The process is designed to retain the individual character of each grain.
For its gins, Archie Rose uses cold distillation to help preserve the character of individual botanicals.
The company says it has received more than 450 awards, including World’s Best Rye Whisky twice, Australia’s Best Single Malt Whisky five times and World’s Best Gin.
Archie Rose received B Corp certification in June 2026, recognising its stated commitments to social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.
The company operates its distillery in Botany, Sydney, with a public bar and cellar door in nearby Rosebery.
Hemsworth’s arrival as co-owner marks a significant change for the previously family-owned company—and gives one of Australia’s most recognisable actors an active role in the effort to establish Australian whisky as a global category.
For Central Element, the start of work at Pearl represents another step in the company’s growing eastern suburbs pipeline.
All three vehicles will form part of a broader charitable initiative benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the American Red Cross and Starlight Children’s Foundation
Apple’s first foldable, the $1,999 iPhone Duo, combines an iPhone and iPad Mini experience—but its size, weight and price come with compromises.
4 min
As I watched a Netflix show on Apple’s first foldable, the iPhone Duo, I had two surprising thoughts.
The first: Maybe I don’t need my iPad Mini anymore.
The second: Uh oh, am I about to spend $1,999 on a phone?
I didn’t think folding phones were for me. I’ve been testing Android versions from Samsung and Google since 2019, and those early editions came with too much screen and too many compromises.
Fast forward seven years, and the technology has come a long way. Apple—in its very Apple way—has also come up with some hardware and software trickery to make up for some shortcomings of the basic design. My desire for a folding phone before today was zero. After today, it’s a lot more than zero.
I’m not ready to recommend the Duo, which ships on Oct. 23, just yet. Not until I am able to test it more fully, so be on the lookout for that review in a few weeks. But from what I experienced at Apple Park on Wednesday, I could actually picture myself using this new half-phone, half-tablet hybrid.
Crease camouflage
For months, I’ve been using Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8, a similarly squat, passport-shaped foldable that opens up to a larger screen. It’s impressively thin and can easily fit into the infuriatingly tiny pockets in women’s pants and dresses. Samsung did a lot of work to minimize the crease—the dip between the two halves of the big interior display—but it’s still clearly there.
When I held the iPhone Duo open, the crease was barely visible. As I slid my finger across the display, I could feel it, but it’s more subtle than Samsung’s. Most of the time, the screen looked as flat and smooth as the one on an iPad.
Apple employed both software and hardware techniques to camouflage the crease. The matte surface of the interior 7.6-inch screen minimizes reflections to hide it. (Samsung’s Fold 8 screen is shiny.)
And as you begin to open or close the iPhone Duo, the interface shifts the controls and content away from the center crease. If, say, you’re watching a video on the outer screen, you can open the Duo to switch to the bigger display within. A black fade marks the transition. You don’t see the video full screen until the phone is completely flat.
Heavy handed
My second observation was that, when the Duo is closed, in phone mode, it was harder to use one-handed than I expected.
In the keynote trailer and press release, Apple touted how thin the Duo is. It’s marketed as the thinnest iPhone ever—when open.
But it’s actually thicker and heavier than most of its Android competitors. The Duo weighs 254 grams, and is 11.3 millimeters thick when closed. The Samsung Galaxy Fold 8 is just 201 grams, with a thickness of 9.7 millimeters. Google’s Pixel 11 Pro Fold is 239 grams and 10.1 millimeters.
Because the Duo is also wider than a standard iPhone, I found it quite a challenge to type.
I admit, I do have smaller-than-average hands. So I consulted my colleague Rolfe Winkler, who has a larger grip. He agreed the Duo feels big.
Apple rearranged the interface on the outer screen so it looks different than traditional iPhones. The dock and control center are off to the right to be more reachable. Committing to the Duo as your main device will require adjustments in your handling. You will have to learn a new way to use and type.
Work and play
My most surprising takeaway? I feel a pull toward this device.
I always thought that combining an iPhone and an iPad would mean bigger compromises. The battery life is about the same as the 18 Pro (up to 24 hours of “regular use” on a single charge), though I’ll need to verify that in my real-world testing. And it’s also as durable, with the same IP68 dust- and water-resistance rating as the rest of the iPhone lineup.
There are trade-offs, for sure. Trying out the camera, I immediately missed the 8X zoom in my Pro model. The Duo has just 2X zoom, which wouldn’t cut it for the dozens of pictures I take of my kid every day.
But the dual screens unlock new photo functionality. You can see what your shot looks like from the outside screen. As someone who has tried tirelessly to self-direct a family photo—or a spouse—I am very eager to try this out more.
Foldables, I initially thought, were for classic mobile-warrior jet-setter types, who never sit at a desk and are always on calls. For that crowd, the Duo can run two apps side-by-side.
Me, I’m more of a bed binge-watcher and ebook reader. That’s what my beloved iPad Mini is for.
Watching videos on the Duo is a nice experience—nice enough that you forget the screen is 0.7 inches smaller than the iPad Mini’s. The main screen is also a 4:3 aspect ratio. Very similar, by the way, to the IMAX edition of the Odyssey.
Because I wasn’t able to snag a ticket to one of the sold-out screenings, I will be watching Christopher Nolan’s version of Homer’s epic on the Duo, just as the director intended. (Just kidding! Sort of.)
The Duo costs $800 more than an iPhone 18 Pro, and I’m not sure I want to spend that premium on a first-generation Apple device. But I’m not ruling out the idea that a Duo might one day be in my future. Stay tuned for my full review.
A haven for hedge-fund titans and Hollywood grandees, Greenwich is one of the world’s most expensive residential enclaves, where eye-watering prices meet unapologetic grandeur.
A&K Sanctuary unveils Kitirua Plains Lodge, a sustainability-focused luxury property shaped by landscape, local craft and contemporary safari architecture.
