Single Malt
18 Jun 2019
29 Aug 2024
Wine Cask
The Heart Cut #14 (and #15) takes us to Australia, to Starward Distillery in Melbourne.
The single cask the brand selected was aged in a fresh red wine barrique from the Barossa Valley and crafted from American oak. Most red wine casks used in whisky are emptied, dried, and shipped. Starward uses them fresh, giving the whisky that extra layer of vivid, vinous character.
Bottled at a bold 55%, it’s big on ripe red fruit, creamy oak, and all the chewy sweetness you’d expect from a Shiraz-soaked cask that hasn’t travelled far from grape to grain.
Bright redcurrants and dried apple slices on the nose, lifted by rose petals and a touch of sun-warmed hay.
Chocolate-covered raspberries, sticky vanilla sponge, and crumbly digestive biscuits, balanced with a lick of golden syrup and toasted coconut. As it develops, soft maltiness – like warm porridge with dates.
A long, gently spiced finish of cinnamon, cacao, and raspberry jam on toast.
