For Lark's Chris Thomson, Whisky-Making is All About the ‘Intangibles'
Now regarded as an elder statesman of the Australian industry—much to his dismay—the cheeky Tasmanian has come to appreciate not only the slow process of building complexity but also the profound impact that those flavours can impart.
'I've realised the responsibility that we have as whisky producers to our consumers; we might be invited to be part of the most important day in someone's entire life,' Thomson tells me. 'When you start to think about it like that, whisky making becomes really simple at that point. It just becomes a commitment; a commitment to your consumer and to who is coming to pick it up off that shelf. It's just a commitment that you are going to give every bit of blood, sweat and tears to something important.'
As he leaves that sentence to linger in the air, as much for himself as it is for me, I suddenly realise what Chris is on about. I guess I had never thought much about the ritualism and status afforded to whisky. To me, cracking a bottle in celebration was just something you did; a liquid acknowledgement of some important milestone, but to makers like Chris, there is no higher praise.
'If someone said to you, 'You have to put together some work and the culmination of that work will be that I will toast the birth of my child', you would think 'Oh my God, what an honour'. I'm going to do every single thing that I can to make this the most extraordinary experience I possibly can.'
'When you look at what Lark is culturally, it's the question of 'Are you happy to get up at five in the morning in freezing mid-winter to make sure that you got your mash right or your ferment? Did you go through and make every tasting? Did you smell every cask? We're chasing this experience that has to be incredible. Someone might pick up that bottle and take it to a funeral of a loved one, or they'll have it on their wedding day.'
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