Spirited News 01/2022: Starward Whisky
Nowadays, a lot of countries produce excellent whisky. Australia is no exception to this. So, I was very excited to try the Starward Line-Up in a blind tasting organised by Kirsch-Whisky. All in all, the whiskies did not at all disappoint!
The tasting package from Kirsch-Whisky included six different samples which only had a number on the label, a hipflask and a bottle of whisky-barrel aged got sauce. (Let us see what we can do with it sometime soon!). On top of that, the Australian Brand ambassador Matty Follent joined us via Zoom.
Red apples and gooseberries
The first whisky we tried had powerful red wine barrel notes in the form of red fruits, red apples and red gooseberries. Furthermore, there were hints of charcoal and vanilla. The whisky was a pleasant sipper without too much burn. It turned out to be the Starward Left-Field. The single malt ages for three to four years in ex-red wine barrels made from French oak. It is bottled at 40 % ABV.
Even more red fruits
The next one we tried surprised us with even more red wine barrel notes. The red berries and wine notes were intensified while the whisky also had additional notes of ginger and caramel. I also noticed a bit more tannins than with the Left-Field. The revealed Starward Nova uses a mix of American and French oak barrels which also previously held Australian red wine and was bottled at 41 % ABV.
Ginger and honey
With blind tasting sample number three, things were a bit different. The nose and taste started off with hints of ginger, honey and agave. Apart from that, some more spicy notes developed reminding me of Szechuan pepper. So, it did not come as a big surprise that the whisky turned out to be the Starward Ginger Beer Cask. This limited release gets a finish in casks which previously held ginger beer. I really was intrigued by the strong ginger notes which instantly reminded me of a Penicillin Cocktail.
Flowers and spices
The fourth whisky also carried a lot of red wine barrel notes, but at the same time tasted a bit different. On the on hand, there were perfumed floral notes and on the other the whisky also had more spices and vanilla flavours. Matty revealed that the whisky was the Starward Octave Barrels. This whisky ages in red wine barrels which previously held The Octavius Shiraz from the Yalumba winery. I obviously, enjoyed the higher level of complexity with this one as well as the slightly higher-ABV of 48 %.
A slight mix-up
Unfortunately, there was slight confusion on which whisky to try next. So I ended up tasting the wrong one. Nevertheless, the sample reminded me of white gummibears, pineapples and some menthol notes besides the Starward typical red wine flavour. I instantly knew that this had to be a higher proof whisky. As it turns out, it indeed was a cask strength bottling https://www.starward.com/us/whisky/single-barrel/ with 58,9 % ABV. I enjoyed the exotic fruit notes, but the whisky clearly benefits from a bit of water.
Peat smoke down-under
It absolutely would have made sense to try the last blind sample, well – last. I instantly recognized some peat smoke reminiscent of Islay whisky. Apart from that, the Starward showed bonfire smoke, red gummibears, charcoal, but also some perfumed notes. Those notes were also accompanied by the “usual” red gooseberries and some Szechuan pepper. If I had to pick my favourite in this tasting, it would have been the Starward Unexpeated, because the finish in Islay whisky barrels adds a lot of complex smoke without overpowering the Starward “house-style”.
*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The whisky samples were provided by Kirsch-Whisky.
