Whisky: Lark 4 Year (2007), Heartwood Casks LD442 & LD323 “The Revelation”

Country/Region: Australia/Tasmania

ABV: 62.5%

Cask: Port and Bourbon

Age: 4 Years (Distilled 2004/2007, Bottled Feb. 2015)

Nose: Intense dried fruits with baking spices in the background, musk candies, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamon; more aromatics over time with violets, orange peel, chocolate, and wood.

Palate: Full-bodied and very viscous, syrupy and a touch waxy, dried dates and chocolate, walnut liqueur, chocolate fudge and candied cherries, more subtle orange peel, violets, and cardamon.

Finish: Long and slightly drying with chocolate, nuts, and dried fruit.

Score: 6+

Mental Image: Hailing the Moroccan Pastry Cart

Narrative & Notes: This unctuous whisky was my first encounter with the Australian independent bottler Heartwood. For a long time, the Hobart-based bottler and shop specialized in Tasmanian malts but expanded with the Australian whisky industry. This was also my first chance to taste Lark, and boy, was this a bear hug of an introduction to the distillery!

An intense affair, maybe even too fierce at cask strength, I found this a little hard to sip on straight up. The flavors smacked my palate right in the face and kept on coming with a ludicrously thick and full body. I rarely describe a whisky as chewy, but this was quintessentially a chewy and rich malt.

It called out for water, and I found a few drops tamed some of the spirited prickle— this was a bit hot at cask strength— and opened up additional complexity with more wood, spice, and violet candies appearing alongside rose petals at the end. Water did nothing to diminish the incredibly thick mouthfeel unless I added an equal part. It remained thick, jammy, and heavy date syrup. This felt like the kind of whisky you mix with syrup and pour over pancakes, scones, or ice cream.

I heard these Heartwood malts could be ridiculous and quite delicious, and I was not disappointed. I looked at a few of their bottles while I was in Australia this past summer but never pulled the trigger after taking in the price. I did grab a bottle of Lark, so I am curious how it will stack up against this hefty behemoth.