Castle Glen Australia — Attraction in Thulimbah

Well I was going to write a great review, as the place does the cutest bottles of liqueurs and has a great setting, however I found their customer service for any issues very disappointing. In store it wasnt particularly outstanding but I was too excited about the cute bottles to worry about that at the time.

I purchased several items, two of which were really cute bottles of liqueurs. I drove home to Brisbane, then my friend and I sampled these at one location, before I drove the few KMs home. When I went to unpack the bottle lid of the round bottle was not on the bottle and despite being in a cardboard box and upright, had leaked half the bottle. I figured this was on me for not securing the lid, however I have found the lid does not stay on. There is obviously an air pressure issue with the design of lid and bottle, so I now have a half empty bottle that the lids won't stay on.

Now here comes the issue. I am assuming I have a faulty lid, so I contact Castle Glen to let them know, and to ask if I might have a replacement (as I really love the bottle and wanted to display it after). I was basically told that these lids often don't stay on, hence why they shrink-wrap them when they make them. So I suggested that is a fault and that perhaps they should be informing the customer about this, both at time of purchase and on the box. Basically (in a friendly way) told me this is how it is and they aren't going to do anything to help me. They also suggested they haven't had this complaint before, which I find strange if this is a common occurrence. And if it's not a common occurrence, then surely you would just err on the side of caution as a business and replace it.

Needless to say I am disappointed that I have half a bottle of liqueur and will now need to find a new home for it and can't store in the bottle I wanted it in. Apparently once empty, my bottle can still be used for the aesthetic purposes I wanted it for, although my plan was to fill it with a coloured liquid, so I guess that won't be happening. Surely if you have a design flaw, you would want to ensure you fix that rather than telling your customers that's...

I really wanted to see this castle, sit down and sample a variety of good wines and maybe food being lunch. Driving in I was not disappointed at the castle building and large green grounds. The front entry needed a bit of pruning, the front yard provides a differentiation and good photo location. Going in I was impressed by the display of goodies until I looked closely to find that there offerred a plethora of distilled spirits or liqueurs but not a wine to try and sample. The interior needs a bit of tlc. I tried the banana creme liqueur, blueberry liqueur, caramel liqueur which would probably be nice served with ice and one other spirit that was too strong to enjoy as a ready to drink and needed a cold chaser. No food, im told that they use to serve them but the kitchen has been closed indefinitely. No seating area. The castle is not setup for visitors staying and enjoying the view so do not expect this kind of thing relaxation after a long drive. Otherwise, friendly service and the proprietors clearly have the passion for mixing flavoured spirits. I did buy the banana creme, green fairy and a couple of jams which I hope...

We received horrible service from man named Marshal. He accused me of having had 4 tasting when I'd only had 1 and then, when I asked him about the cinnamon liquor he made no eye contact with me and didn't respond to my question. There was also rap music blearing in the background. I had wanted to purchase a liquor for baking, however after that treatment we both left promptly. Not a nice environment at all.

All in all a very disappointing, unprofessional and unfriendly experience.

Very sad as we had been looking forward to going to Castle Glen all day as we've been loyal customers for several years now (dropping in each year when we come up the mountain for a short break).

Hopefully this man is just a fill-in and not permanent staff as I'm afraid the business will...