Behind our whiskies
Crafted from our island home
From the moment Bill and Lyn Lark overturned a distilling ban that had held since 1839, we've been driven by one belief – that Tasmania, this wild, edge-of-the-world island, had something extraordinary to say.
Every decision we make, from the very first stage of production to the final drop in the bottle, honours the island that made us. We work closely with Tasmanian farmers, sourcing our barley from the fields of Devonport. We smoke our water with apple-wood from Tasmanian orchards. We draw our peat from the moors of the Central Highlands. We open our fermentation tanks to the Tasmanian air itself. This place doesn't just inspire what we do – it is what we do.
We don’t just make whisky, we explore it.
Our Barley
Our Tasmanian barley is the foundation of our flavour and texture. It gives us a much oilier, richer and more silky liquid, with a rich taste and velvety texture that coats the mouth and lingers on the palate. Fermenting for seven days gives those flavours time to fully develop, resulting in a deeply delicious and complex whisky.
Our Fermentation Process
Fermentation, for us, is an act of invitation. We open our tanks to the Tasmanian air and let the island in — welcoming the wild, living character of Tasmania directly into the spirit through natural wild yeast inoculation. We then ferment for seven full days, far beyond the industry norm, because great flavour cannot be rushed. The result is a deeply complex spirit that could only have come from this island.
Tasmanian Peat Smoke
Smoke has been part of our signature from the very beginning – woven through our whisky in two distinct ways. We mine our own peat from Browns Marsh in Tasmania's Central Highlands under our own mining licence, the first and only of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.
That peat imparts a gentle, earthy smoke that is entirely unique to LARK – softer and more herbal than anything you'd find in the Northern Hemisphere, and impossible to replicate anywhere else on earth.
We also cut our Single Malt with applewood smoked water, sourced from the orchards of the Apple Isle itself. This unique technique adds layers of discovery to the finish, enhancing mouthfeel and deepening the signature umami complexity found across our portfolio.
Our Wood Program
Bill and Lyn Lark knew that great whisky needs great wood. Bill sought out the best – travelling to the Barossa Valley to find Seppeltsfield Wines, established in 1851 and home to one of Australia's most remarkable fortified wine legacies.
Over a conversation with proprietor Warren Randall, a lifelong friendship was born – sealed not with a contract, but a paper napkin. A partnership that endures to this day.
The result is exclusive access to some of the rarest fortified casks in the world, some over 100 years old containing rare tawny port.
Our Maturation Program
LARK's barrel maturation program is unique in the world. We use rare casks from Seppeltsfield, carrying an unbroken lineage of fortified wine dating back to 1878 — the oldest of its kind in Australia.
Some of these casks have been holding fortified wine for over a century, and when our spirit enters that wood, it isn't just interacting with oak — it's interacting with generations of concentrated fortified wine character that no other distillery in the world has access to.
Every cask we hand-select is individually assessed before it enters our program, chosen for the story it will tell and the richness it will bring to every drop of LARK.
Bespoke Cask Seasoning
Our bespoke LARK Cask Seasoning Program takes this partnership even further, making it entirely our own. One seasoning is created using Australian PX (Pedro Ximénez), Apera (Sherry) and Muscadelle, imparting sweetness and Christmas pudding depth.
The second adds Seppeltsfield Tawny Port – some over 100 years old – along with Australian PX (Pedro Ximénez), Apera (Sherry) and Muscadelle, delivering intense sweetness underpinned by leather, tobacco and umami complexity.
Together, they complete what we call the beautiful triangle of the LARK house style: sweetness, silkiness and a distinctly New World umami.
Taste is our Compass
We taste our spirit up to 70 times throughout its journey, from daily checks during fermentation through to yearly audits once the whisky passes the critical three-year mark. It's the most intensive tasting programme in Australian whisky, and it exists for one reason: to ensure that flavour and texture lead, and everything else follows.
