Telstra's small business of the year award goes to Lark Distillery

Tasmanian whisky company, Lark Distillery, has been named Telstra's small business of the year at the 2014 Telstra Business Awards.

The boutique whisky producer, founded by Bill and wife Lyn Lark in 1992, was the first single malt whisky distillery in Australia since 1839.

In a relatively short amount of time they established a reputation as a world-class producer of whisky, and are also credited with putting Tasmania on the map as a whisky producer and destination.

These days, Tasmania is recognised as the Scotland of the southern hemisphere with Tasmanian malts winning significant international awards at the world’s most prestigious whisky shows and competitions.

Lark Distillery has won its fair share of these, including being named Australian Distiller of the Year 2014 and Best Australian Whisky 2014 at the Royal Melbourne Fine Food Awards Australian Distilled Spirits & Liqueurs competition.

Bill Lark is also credited with helping to develop the industry in Tasmania through his support and encouragement of other Tasmanian producers, and a centre of excellence was recently created to boost the development of the whisky industry in Tasmania.

Lark Distillery will share in $800,000 of prize money with two other winners.