The Lark Single Cask is an interesting whisky and I got to try this little guy thanks to a friend who had his honeymoon in Australia and New Zealand. It’s a whisky that spent many hours stuffed in a suitcase next to dirty laundry and toiletries in order to arrive back here in Los Angeles and for me that actually makes it more special because it came with a story. Which is actually my favorite way to drink whisk(e)y; with friends while telling stories.
Lark Distillery fired up it’s stills in 1992 and was the first licensed distillery in Tasmania since the last one had closed in 1839. It’s run by the Lark family and all of the ingredients to make the whisky are from from the island of Tasmania. The barley, the peat, the water the yeast and even the small casks they use for aging are made from trees growing in Tasmania and Australia. These casks are then set aside and allowed to mature for up to 8 years there on the island of Tasmania. A truly Tasmanian product through and through.
Lark Single Cask Review
ABV: 43%
Distiller: Lark
Price: $132
Mashbill: 100% Tasmanian Barley
EYE
Golden honey
NOSE
Very sweet nose with big dollops of vanilla frosting, sugar, maple syrup, malt and brown sugar. Some woody notes hang out in the background and blend with a light orchard fruit and and ambiguous sweetness. It’s not offensive, but it’s also not spectacular. A little muddled and very sweet with the wood being the sharpest note in the glass.
TASTE
The fruit has moved up to dominate the palate and comes across like an orchard and tropical fruit hybrid. Cinnamon, malt, wood, nutmeg and that same faceless sweetness from the nose round out the main flavors. Again, it’s a little muddled with the wood being the most defined, but not wholly dominant, flavor.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
A bit off balance with the sweet weighing heavy. Medium body and flaxen texture make for an ordinary drinking experience which shouldn’t be happening for $132.
FINISH
It gets a little interesting here with leather, cinnamon, malt, wood and smoke, which appears in the most meager of notes, combining in a long slow fade.
OVERALL
I don’t love it, I don’t hate it, it just is. It have some nice aspects to it, but it’s just not something I want as a daily drinker. They also claim that it’s been lightly peated, but I don’t taste, or smell, any peat or smoke except the briefest hint in the finish. Maybe the higher proof versions would improve it, but this basic offering just didn’t do it for me. For me the wood was a little too prominent next to the rest of the light and muddled flavors. Glad I got to have a couple glasses, but it’s not something I’m itching to try again soon.
SCORE: 83/100
