Lark Cask Strength Impressions

What is it? 

Distillery: Lark, Tasmania, Australia

Name: Lark Cask Strength

Make: Single Malt Whisky

Extra Info: Founded by Bill Lark in 1992, Lark Distillery was the first licensed distillery in Tasmania since the last distillery closed its doors 150 years earlier. Tasmania is considered one of the leading regions in Australia for producing whisky, with a pristine climate and access to some of the best ingredients in the world. Today there are 20 established distilleries in Tasmania, producing whisky, gin and vodka. 

Why did I buy it?

I attended the Whisky Live Hobart event earlier this year and according to my notes, sampled 50 different whiskies. I say sampled, because I'm sure my senses were impaired somewhat after around the tenth whisky. I sampled all the Tasmanian whisky on offer first and began with Lark. Of all the whisky I tried that day, the only bottle that I bought on the way out the door was this Lark Cask Strength. I almost bought an Overeem Sherry Cask Single Malt as well.

What did I think of it?

Presentation: In what has to be one of the coolest whisky bottles around, Lark is packaged in a clear hip flask shaped bottle that holds 500ml. My bottle has a giant golden stamp in the middle. The distillery recently changed their labelling but thankfully retained the same shape bottle. This is a NAS Tasmanian Single Malt Whisky bottled at a cask strength of 58% ABV.

Appearance: Amber gold, non-chill filtered and I believe no artificial colour added. The relatively dark colour may be a result of the smaller 100L casks (Australian Quarter Casks) that were used for aging.

Aroma: Sweet, apricot jam, saw dust and with water a faint mild citrus note like orange pith or mandarin peel.

Flavour: Oily mouthfeel, initial cinnamon spice, becoming smoother as it warms to body temperature within the mouth. Water cuts the spice somewhat and reveals a faint peat smokiness.

Finish: Long, sweet, lingering spice, warming in the chest.

Would I buy it again?

Yes, this is a great whisky. Tasmania and other parts of Australia have some excellent whisky on offer, but the industry is still only in its infancy. Right now, production quantities are low and high demand has driven up most prices. I can't wait to see what Lark and other Australian distilleries are producing in ten to twenty years from now.

Disclaimer: I do not claim to have the nose and palate of a Master Sommelier, however, I am working to train my senses to better identify whisky aromas and flavours. Consider all my whisky 'Impressions' to be a work in progress and I hope to come back to each of them in the future to see if I notice anything different. Most importantly, I'm not just throwing around random aromas, flavours and adjectives for the hell of it; I am trying really hard to critically describe each whisky I taste - WhiskyDad.