As the first release from their new Rare Cask Series, created in the “pursuit of excellence”, Tasmania’s Lark Distillery has dropped the PARA50, a $550 single malt finished in 50-year-old vintage tawny casks.
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The series, which aims to highlight the world’s rarest casks and their unique characteristics, will be a wide-reaching endeavour for the acclaimed distillery, planning to venture across “cultures and continents” with each release. Needless to say, each will be available in strictly limited quantities, available as 700ml, 51% ABV bottles.
This first release, a rich single malt simply labelled Rare Cask: PARA50 Vintage Tawny Cask, draws its flavour from the Seppeltsfield Parra Vintage Tawny barrels taken from the South Australian winery.
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Tasting notes describe the whisky as having a tapestry of rich dark fruits and antique oak on the nose, followed by blackcurrants, blackberries, vanilla and toasted chestnuts. The front palate should bring subtle notes of Tasmanian orchard fruits dipped in toffee and treacle before taking on the likes of quince paste, marmalade, rich oak and tawny. The burnished bronze liquid allegedly sports a long, flavourful finish.
Lark has obviously taken great pride in the new series. Each bottle will come with a copper medallion that has been handcrafted from a decommissioned Lark copper pot still, representing a part of the distillery’s history for whisky aficionados. And for collectors who want to leave the main bottle unopened, a smaller 100ml bottle of the good stuff comes packaged so they can still enjoy the single malt.
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Fast fans of the series won’t have to wait long until the next Lark Distillery single malt drop. The aptly named PARA100 is due for arrival on shelves in February of next year, pushed as the world’s first-ever 100-year-old cask finish.
Whisky drinkers wanting to get their hands on a bottle can now head on over to Dan Murphy’s and other leading liquor stores or place on order online at Lark’s official website.
