Bold wildflower honey | Vanilla | Syrup | Dab of oak | Sickly sweet | Honey scents dominate

Honey | Sweet vanilla | Cinnamon spice | Dry oak | Rye spice | Silky mouthfeel | Nice balance of spicy & sweet

Baking spices | Light rye spice | Fleeting honey | Lightly charred oak | Undulating lingering heat

Starlight Distillery located in Borden, Indiana calls Huber’s Orchard & Winery home. The farm started in 1843 when Simon Huber settled it, and is now in the 7th generation of Hubers living and working on the farm. Along with growing various crops, the distillery also has bee hives which they utilize to produce their own honey. This particular whiskey was made by aging the bourbon in used bourbon barrels that previously held honey produced on their farm.

Honey finished bourbons are a style of finished bourbons that you either love or hate. By nature, honey is naturally sweet and if you’re not a fan of sweeter bourbons, it’s generally hard to fall in love with honey finished ones. However, if you do like this category, Starlight Distillery has done a nice job of integrating the honey finish into their spice-forward bourbon. It starts with a clear influence of the barrel finish on the nose, with bold wildflower honey wafting out of the glass. The midpoint and finish incorporate more sweet honey notes along with balancing out spicier ones to even things out. While the honey influence borders on being overwhelming at times, this is a nice example from this finishing category. What makes it even more fun is knowing that the honey was produced on the same farm that the distillery resides on.

The bottle in review is from barrel number 22-2507-1.