Another limited release from the Lark distillery finds itself at the table ready to be lapped up for a review – the Rum Cask Release III! This Tasmanian tuple is their third instalment of the series, grabbing influence from casks that are local to the distillery – the “Quite Cannon Rum”; explains the illustration on the bottle labelling.

The expression is matured in a combination of richly fortified first and second fill casks before being finished in these rum casks. With no age statement, it comes bottled at a very desirable abv of 55%, that is void of any artificial colouring and chill filtration.

ABV : 55%

Eye : Tawny | Natural Colouring, Non Chill Filtered

Nose : Woody and sweet, with vanilla, coconut and raisins. Brown sugar and fresh wood, plums and rum n raisin  cark chocolate with influences from red wine; white pepper, mild leather, cinnamon

Taste : Dry and astringent, red wine and brown sugar, peaches and stone fruits, charred cantaloupe, strong sweet abd deep favours are coming through, with mulberry like nauances quite strong, black pepper and herbal.

Finish : Medium | Warm, sweet vanilla with hints of apple and dried fruits with some mild spice

On dilution : The palate is more velvety and smooth with charred cantaloupe being more pronounced, combined with the richness of dried fruits along with hints of mulberry, vanilla and floral notes echoing through with subtle nutty nuances.

Though more palatable, I felt the flavours were more robust and bang bang undiluted! This Lark does not dissapoint but isn’t up there with some of the others I’ve had. Innovation and a bounty of flavours are ingredients to this elixir and it does quite well; and the flavours are there. But if I were to critic, I think the rum influence wasn’t as strong as I would have expected, but is present!

At AUD $280, this is definitely “chi-ching” but comes in at 55% ABV and so more bang for buck. I always like to sample their 100 ml bottles before I make a decision to progress to their more hearty 500 ml offering. This one isn’t short of a recommendation, so go give this one a shot!

Slainte!