The Southeast
New world, wine casks
Melbourne and Sydney answer Tasmania's Scottish instincts with something defiantly local. Starward matures its malt entirely in fresh Australian wine barrels — shiraz, cabernet, apera — trucked wet from the wine country a day's drive away, and lets Melbourne's four-seasons-in-a-day weather work the casks hard. In Sydney, Archie Rose — the city's first new distillery since 1853 — rebuilt rye whisky around malted rye and took a world title with it inside six years.
- Character
- Big-city distilleries backed by wine country — the casks arrive still wet with shiraz.
- Style
- Juicy, berry-toned malts from wine barrels, and a new school of aromatic malted rye.
- Born
- Melbourne, 2007
- Signature
- Berries and spice from wet wine oak
- Distilleries
- 40+ (mainland)
- Top houses
Tip · Starward Nova with one ice cube is the summer pour that converts wine drinkers to whisky in a single glass.
Value pick
Starward Nova · ~$60
Shiraz-cask single malt — red berries, plum and soft spice at everyday money.
Collector pick
Archie Rose Single Malt (early releases) · ~$200
Six individually treated malts in one mash — Sydney's statement bottling.
Test yourself
Question 1 of 40/4
Production
Starward matures its whisky entirely in: