Continuing with my concentrated exploration of Starward distillery I’ve pulled out the Starward Small Batch Chardonnay The seventh iteration in the Small Batch programme, Chardonnay Cask is a single malt whisky that has been aged in French Oak barrels, that were sourced from the esteemed Yarra Valley and Margaret River wine regions. A combination of fresh and charred barrels that once held Chardonnay were filled with Starward spirit. From the Starward website: “When it comes to maturing our award-winning whisky, Starward’s red wine barrel influence has always been at the heart of what we do. Now, we’re excited to be unveiling Small Batch Chardonnay Cask; our first ever whisky that has been fully matured in white wine casks.” N: Lightly acidic and very buttery. Peaches and toasted brioche are the star performers with just a little touch of oak spice. P: Richly creamy and full bodied. This is indeed Chardonnay; buttery oak, crisp gooseberry and light peach/apricot, a slightly woody caramel and white chocolate richness. Barrel spices of ground ginger, white pepper and cinnamon. F: Long. Creamy slightly vanilla butter, a little drying tannic presence and plenty of remnant spice notes. For Distiller whisky taste #195 I had a Tasmanian Chardonnay Cask, and it got me excited for this one. Chardonnay casks appear to be winners for me. This drinks almost the same as the Hobart Chardonnay. The only real faults that I find are the spice notes are a little heavy by the end of the pour. Otherwise this is an elegant dram to savour and well worth checking out. I have been dismissive of Starward in the past, I opened this set of tastings with a degree of cynicism also. But perhaps I have been unfair. Whilst I am still yet to get to the core range of Starward, the exploration of the small batch’s and projects have revealed perhaps a glimmer of excellence. Whilst the ambition Starward have shown is admirable, I still think they could do with calming down, and focusing on great releases rather than letting all the experiments out the door… that said, three core ranges to hunt down and another nine (yes nine) projects/small batches to sample when I get back from Europe in six weeks. Distiller whisky taste #206 [Pictured here with another shooting star for Starward. This slice of a fine octahedrite iron-meteorite has been cut from the Muonionalusta Meteorite. The meteorite fell in northern Scandinavia between Sweden and Finland some 800,000 years ago with the meteorite itself formed during the accretion of our Solar System ~4.6 billion years ago. The intricate pattern seen on these slices is called Widmanstätten Pattern, a complex mineral structure created by long crystals of nickel-iron alloys.] 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 Small Batch, Chardonnay: 4/5