Apple | Honey | Red currant | Molasses | Light toasted oak

Raspberry | Green tea | Golden raisin | Sugarcane | Malt

Light oak | Toffee | Malt | Very light smoke

Starlight Distillery is located in Indiana, on the Huber estate, a distillery/winery family farm that makes all of their spirits in-house. In a relatively short amount of time since they started distilling bourbon, they have made a name for themselves and are some of the biggest risk-takers and innovators in whiskey finishing. Little did anyone know, but the company started distilling single malts over a decade ago and waited until now to release their first official American single malt product. It features a 10 year age statement and was double pot distilled in copper pot stills.

The first thing you’ll notice about Starlight’s 10 Year Old Indiana Uplands American Single Malt is its color. It’s very light in complexion, and that likely has to do with this being aged in used barrels with the breakdown being: 25% PX sherry, 25% bourbon, 20% Vino De Naranja, 20% peated scotch, and 10% rum.

The aroma is light but rich with scents of apple, honey, red currant, sweet molasses, and toasted oak. The palate maintains this gentleness, offering a unique blend of flavors that includes raspberry, green tea, golden raisin, and sugarcane. The finish follows with light oak, toffee, malt, and light smoke.

It’s great to see Starlight surprise everyone with an American single malt that seemingly came out of nowhere, and even more so, one that features a 10 year age statement. It’s surprisingly delicate in nature and has a degree of airiness to it. Given the number of barrel types involved in its aging process, the flavors are surprisingly light overall, and Starlight seems to be going for more of a scotch-style single malt than a more robust American one. Given its color and flavor intensity, it’s hard to fully take in the whiskey’s age. It also features a light graininess to it, though this has less to do with age and more to do with the company’s particular style of whiskey making.

In the end, it’s priced respectfully based on its age statement and the number of barrel types involved. Still, given that this could very much be some of the first American single malt barrels the company laid down over 10 years ago, I look forward to experiencing how this evolves in subsequent batches and would like to see a bit higher proof to help bring out its flavors to a more impactful degree.