The Aussie Spirit Auction has announced that they will making available the ultimate ‘Aussie Spirit’, with the Godfather of Australian Whisky, Bill Lark, guiding the blending and maturation of a very special whisky in Tasmania.

Five barrels will be up for grabs, with 100% of funds raised going to Rural Aid for bushfire and drought relief.

New make spirit has been donated by Archie Rose Distilling Co., Manly Spirits Co., Newcastle Distilling Co., and Shipyard Distillery in NSW; Belgrove Distillery, Sawford Distillery, Shene Estate &Distillery, and White Label Distillery in Tasmania; 5Nines Distilling, Rochfort Distillery, and Tin Shed Distilling Company/Iniquity in South Australia; Ostra Distillers in Victoria; and SouWester Spirits in Western Australia.

For ageing, Round Oak Barrels have donated 1 x 57-L rum cask, 1 x 57-L honey spirit/bourbon cask, 1 x 10-L ex-Tawny case (heavy char), and 1 x 42-L Bluebird Distillery Four Grain Bourbon cask; and Angove has also donated an enormous 300-L ex-Cognac/VSOP cask (60 yo French oak).

The opportunity is there for the winner to personally join Bill in blending and barrel-filling during March 2020, in Tasmania (at your expense) and to have a say in personalising the labeling, (re)naming and the eventual ABV of the whisky.

To bid on this and other items, head on over to The Aussie Spirit Auction auction platform for more information. If you can’t attend the gala, email them directly at hello@aussiespiritauction.com to discuss options.

Fine print: Winners will be responsible for paying for the bottling costs and excise at the time of barrel emptying. Bottling costs TBA. Barrels will be decanted for bottling when Bill Lark determines that the spirit is at its absolute peak for that barrel. For the 300-L cask, this may be 4+ years; for the smaller casks, this will be closer to 2 years.