Starward Solera Single Malt

Solera, finally. Seventeen Starward’s deep and I’ve finally made it to their original bottling. Not too much to preamble this with… Australian malted barley; brewers yeast; Apera casks from McWilliams Winery on the NSW-VIC border re-coopered, shaved, and charred in house; and a traditional Solera process. N: Bright and acidic with some tannic backing. Acidity from apples and then jammy mulled red fruits and plums come through. Tannic oak and a little nuttiness that borders on marzipan sweet. Give enough patience and a nice caramel might just lift out also. P: Rich, and with a lovely toffee texture. Toasted oak is restrained and warm, dark jam with figs, blackcurrant and a tiny floral lift. Milk chocolate and lick of filter coffee carry a waft of burnt caramel with a hint of clove and nutmeg, almost like a custard tart cooked just too long. F: Medium. Juicy and bright with light mocha, more bakery spice, and a hint of old oak shavings This is probably the least ostentatious dram I have come across from Starward. None of the small batch prestige, or projects trumpet blowing. This is quite simply, locally sourced, carefully executed, well made whisky. The result here, is an enjoyable, accessible and good value for money whisky that would be very welcome on my shelf but for one problem. Arran ’The Bodega’ exists, and its AUD$19 cheaper than this and quite a bit better. That said, if you want a good introduction to Starward and a no fuss or frills session whisky, I’d recommend this as a pour well spent. Distiller whisky taste #218 [Pictured here with a fluorite-sphalerite combo from Chihuahua, Mexico. Sphalerite is a zinc sulphide and gets its name from the Greek word for treacherous; as it can easily be mistaken for a few other things. True to its treacherous nature, all you’ll be able to see here is lovely shades of purple from fluorite. Now go brush your teeth.. easy points for understanding that comment]. Starward running scores: Nova: 3/5 Fortis: 3.25/5 Solera: 3.75/5 10th Anniversary: 4.25/5 Vitalis 15th Anniversary: 4.5/5 Whisky Club Exclusive, Maple Cask: 2/5 Whisky Club Exclusive, Cognac Cask: 3.5/5 Projects, Octave Barrels: 3.75/5 Projects, Dolce: 2.25/5 Projects, Bourbon Cask: 3.5/5 Projects, Tawny #2: 3.5/5 Projects, UnExpeated: 3.75/5 Projects, Peated: 2.75/5 Small Batch, Cherry Wood Smoked: /5 Small Batch, Hungarian Oak: 3/5 Small Batch, Sticky Toffee Apple: 3.25/5 Small Batch, Chardonnay: 4/5

Note - I'm doing the Really Good Whisky Company Advent Calendar. I've also decided to pour these whiskeys "blind" (or at least as blind as I can), then providing nose, palate, and finish notes. I'll then look at the label, proof, cask type, etc. before writing my other notes. I'll be providing some guesses around things like proof and cask type and then seeing how much I missed the mark. Slàinte Mhath! Nose: This is jumping out of the glass at me. Vanilla, banana, brown sugar. Solid oak presentation. Some buried vegetal, herbal character. Also getting some stewed fruits with spices. Some s'mores character is showing up as this sits - especially the graham cracker. I feel like this is a combination of aged and young spirit - the oak character is also throwing me here. Almost like a weird blend of cask types? For as "loudly" as this presents, it's pretty friendly. No clue on age statement - going to randomly guess it's NAS since why not. Also no clue on region. Going to either be all malt or malt and grain. Palate: A pleasant combo of bananas, vanilla, just the slightest orange blossom, and white sugar. Mint chocolate. The texture and sensations here are more consistent with oak than proof, so I'll hazard we're sub -45%. Cinnamon graham crackers - almost a touch of doughy character. Bubblegum. Well integrated. Focused towards the back of the palate. Medium light mouthfeel. Finish: Mint, banana, and oak pop. Tannins wash over and this oak foundation appears. Orange, apple juice, cream, and slight floral/herbal character. A little bitterness helps balance things out, along with some tannin texture. Red hots show up, then as things drop off it trades punches with the vanilla, tannin, and banana. Medium length. Other notes: Surprised myself with this one! I love the idea of solera casks, and this reinforces why. I got proof, got close with mash, couldn't get region, and age doesn't count. This uses re-sized Apera casks, which is apparently similar to sherry. I enjoyed this - it's different but not a funky adventure. The overall profile is friendly without being boring. The cask influence is excellent and the balance keeps this interesting. I'd gladly buy a bottle of this to have around. Cheers, folks!

Nose: Intense caramel and toffee aromas, butterscotch, honey and a little vanilla. Palate: A sweet, hefty butterscotch, caramel and mild spice arrival. As it develops creamy sherry and oak flavours emerge, but they remain subtle. Some dried fruit tastes – figs, dates, etc. – appear in the background along with some nutmeg. Finish: The sherry and oak that surfaced mid-development carry on through to the end, which is well balanced. The nose is quite heavy and sweet. It bears a passing resemblance to bourbon but does not have the strong vanilla and fruitiness. It’s also not quite like a scotch malt either – it’s somewhere between the two. The barley used is brewer’s barley that is generally used for ale, and they employ both brewer’s and distiller’s yeasts. The maturation is period is short and intense (think 2-3 years of racking like a bourbon rather than long resting in a dunnage). Maturation is done entirely in re-toasted Australian apera (ie sherry) casks of varying sizes, and the contents are decanted from barrel to barrel in a solera-like process throughout the maturation cycle. New World Whisky Distillery relocated to the suburb of Port Melbourne a couple of years ago, and this coincided with several changes to the distillery equipment, including a new wash still. As their new make spirit is typically aged for 2-3 years this means that all Starward whisky currently on retailer’s shelves (as at mid-2018) is from the old distillery stock. Later this year will be the roll-out of the first whisky distilled and matured at the new premises. There has been a slight change of distillery profile, from a rather caramel focused character (like this one I tasted) to a more fruity sherried style. I expect this latter style is the expression that will be getting a lot of exposure on international markets. A comfortable and enjoyable whisky, lacking in complexity but making up for it with heft and style. It reminds me a bit of some recent American craft malt whiskies. “Above Average” : 80/100 (3 stars)

Let me be sincere about this dram, it wasn't what i expected. I held an all sherried whiskies tasting event and this one was by far the worst dram of the night, without being a bad whisky at all. Starward is an Australian Distillery, located in Melbourne, which is famous for maturing their whiskies in barrels that previously held different types of wines. This Solera expression is supposed to be matured in a Fortified wine cask using a Solera system; (its sherry, but it cannot actually be called "sherry" because it does not come from the Jerez Triangle zone in Spain). Bottled at 43%abv, tawny color. On the nose: Banana bread, Brown sugar, ripe bananas, honeycomb, fresh apples, Almonds; Cereal cornflakes, honey candy and Cinnamon. Feels so "Speysider". After first sip, it releases an artificial orange aroma. Letting it breath makes it better, very fruity. After having a second sip, the aroma is exactly coffee with milk. Decent aroma. On the palate, it is not that good. Very standard. Sweet Cinnamon, pepper and oranges. Second sip reveals vanilla and milk chocolate. Coffee with milk once again. Aftertaste is nice but it lacks emotion. Orange peel; Oaky, Coffee beans, Pepper. Very Sugary. Overall this could be a lot better, i expected a lot more. Its more an everyday dram rather than a super rare amazing whisky that you reserve for special occasions. 82 over 100 is a fair score for it.

A Single Malt Whisky by David Vitale founder of New World Whisky Distillery in Melbourne, Australia. It's crafted with 100% Australian malted barley that’s been fermented with brewer’s yeast & double-distilled; then aged exclusively in re-sized Apera casks using the solera aging technique. It has an aromatic birth with notes of grain, wood, fruits, nuts, herbs & spices; while a rich & fruity life adds notes of stewed prunes, Fig Newton, malted barley, Sherry, that led to a warm & spicy death of medium length adding notes of oak sawdust, cappuccino, chocolate cream, raw almonds, marzipan, cinnamon, nutmeg, hints of English toffee & Crème brûlée. December 2023

Solera is in the name so you would immediately expect sherry cask solera sysyem flavour profile. And yes, even though the color is golden amberish you do get your sherry dry fruit notes. I also found a note that I never found in other wiskey "fresh cut cucumber" just zipping in and out on your nose. The base of all this is your sugary notes but unlike your bourbon candy sugar. On top of all this is this beautiful floral notes that embellish the wiskey. On the palate is your smooth flowing sherry notes with oak spicy notes that does not linger too long just there too tease your palate, and not much of bitterness as well. Overall it's a beautiful wiskey.