Featured at World Whisky Day 2022: Starward distillery was founded in 2007 by David Vitale. Producing whiskies from the outset, Starward received investment from spirits conglomerate Diageo in 2015 via their Distilled Ventures program, which allowed the distillery to expand their facilities. Starward Nova is the brand’s signature offering, featuring malted barley fermented with brewer’s yeast. It then goes into a variety of casks from Australian wineries, namely shiraz, cabernet and pinot noir from the Yarra and Barossa valleys, where it remains for the entire maturation of approximately two years. Starward asserts the aging process is accelerated due to the area’s volatile climate.
Distillery: Starward
Country: Australia
Age: NAS
Strength: 41%
Price: $50.99
Maturation: ex-red wine barrels from Australia
Location: Port Melbourne, Vic
Nose: Peach, apricot, plum, toasted cereal
Palate: White pepper, fruit
Finish: Wine, tannins, plum
Comments: Try tilting your nose at different angles to the glass and be rewarded with a multiplicity of scents.
Adam – Oh my. This whisky is like sniffing a sangria at first, heavy with fruit and simmering toast. There’s a hint of the white pepper on the palate in the nose but only just. That pepper is a little surprise but doesn’t overstay it’s welcome, wrapped as it is in the fruits from the nose. These are beyond a doubt red wine fruits, but held together with tannins and pepper at the core before they become overbearing. I’ve rarely tasted a wine influence so heavy in a whisky before and it is delightful, at least as long as you like your red wines. It’s not the most complex dram I’ve ever sipped but then again it doesn’t need to be. It plays a few notes and does them well. I’m sorry this is so hard to find in the US, depending on where you live. For the price especially, this would be a veritable super Nova to help me blaze through the summer in splendor.
Kate – This one is really balanced, almost like water. Where does it begin and where does it end? I don’t understand this but I like it. It starts out bitter on the palate and I’m about to write it off but then it takes a sharp left turn into the delicious.
Bill – This is that half a bag of plums that went to rot but began to ferment instead on the nose.
Fresh and fruity, like hot plums off a sunny tree.
Henry – Fresh and fruity, like hot plums off a sunny tree. Breathe deeply enough and a perfume tops it off. On the finish, the tannins from the wine cask join the fruit and gentle oaky notes and crisp pepperiness for a great ride. Tannins soften at the finish, with lingering sweetness and warmth.
Ben – The Nova smells like someone baking muffins. Fruit comes in at the front of the palate, then it becomes tannic.
