Starward small batch sticky toffee apple

Continuing with my concentrated exploration of Starward distillery I’ve pulled out the Starward Small Batch Sticky Toffee Apple. From the Starward website: “Starward's Sticky Toffee Apple whisky is the latest release from our Small Batch program where our distillers source unique barrels or trial something new. Our distillers sourced Apple Brandy barrels from the United States and finished our red wine matured, single malt whisky in these barrels for three years. These barrels worked hard in Melbourne's 'four seasons in one day', which allowed the delicious liquid to achieve the full orchard and oak experience. This resulted in our luscious Sticky Toffee Apple whisky which is bound to please every crowd; whisky lover or not” N: Names on the bottle, sticky and sweet. Toffee apple is unsurprisingly the main player but there is a more delicate perfume and a savoury vanilla. Together, these subtle notes stop things becoming cloying. After a good 15 minutes I’m finding the smallest hint of raisin. P: Viscous and sticky with lovely acidity. The apple brandy comes through strong with a scrumpy cloudy cider character. Very warming bakery spice and pastry. A darker toffee than the nose develops on the mid palate. A slight red wine influence as a jammy plum is subdued bud adds some depth to the profile. F: Surprisingly long. Fresh juicy sweetness, apple puree, chaired pineapple and a hot ginger-cinammon. The fresh juiciness is what lasts the longest. Curiouser and curiouser. Starward is getting increasingly more interesting. This has a beautifully delicate nose interweaved with a heavyweight apple brandy that builds into a just barely balanced palate and a monster finish. The three parts of nose, palate, and finish all have that thick apple brandy essence but they are not one and the same, each brings a different aspect. The most immediate comparison I can draw is the Glenfiddich Orchard Experiment (distiller whisky taste #198), however, the gentle influence of Starwards red wine casks have added just enough extra depth to make this a more interesting apple brandy finishing. The second comparison then is the Whisky Club Exclusive Starward Cognac Cask. The Starward CC is the subtler finish, with a more rounded and varied palate, better acidity, chocolatey-creamy and velvety texture, and a brightening spritz of orange. Still, this is a valiant effort and certainly lives up to its name sake of ‘Sticky Apple’. Price is for 500 ml bottle. Distiller whisky taste #205 [Pictured here with another shooting star for Starward. This meteorite is called a Howardite, a specific type of rock ejected from the surface of the meteorite Vesta by other meteorite impacts. Vesta is the second largest asteroid in the Solar System and meteorites from Vesta hold important clues to the formation of planetary bodies.] Starward running scores: Fortis: 3.25/5 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 Small Batch, Hungarian Oak: 3/5 Small Batch, Sticky Toffee Apple: 3.25/5 ‘Brandy’ cask running scores: Port Charlotte CC:01 - 5/5 Balvenie 16 French Oak Pineau Cask Finish - 3.5/5 Arran Rare Batch 17 y/o Calvados - 3.75/5 Starward Cognac Cask - 3.5/5 Glenfiddich Orchcard Experiment Ponoma - 2.75/5 Starward Small Batch, Sticky Toffee Apple: 3.25/5