May's Spirit of the Month - Starward Single Malt Whisky Single Barrel Pick by Long Beach Bartenders Guild

May’s Spirit of the Month is a single barrel pick from Starward Australian Whisky. The Single Malt was picked by the organization formally known as The Long Beach Bartender Guild. Now, I say formally known because the Guild recently went through a name change and is now known as The Long Beach Shaker Project. We've been big fans of Starward Whisky around here for a while. The Melbourne Distillery sources all their ingredients within a day's drive of the Distillery and gets the majority of their barrels from local Wineries.

Barrel number 13127 from Starward was put into ex-red wine American oak barrels in 2018 for 2 years. It was then transferred to slightly larger American oak barrels, that were re-charred to level 3.5, for an additional 2 years of aging. The result is a single malt with a rich and aromatic nose; lots of dark fruit and dark chocolate. On the palate; rich cherry, hints of raspberries and honeyed stone fruit coats the mouth. A combination of malted chocolate and coco nibs along with a little bit of apple fruit too. There is a light baking spice and toasted almond profile that helps dry the finish of this Whisky.