Whisky from Australia? Absolutely!!!
Spirit-ed deliciousness from Down Under
When most people think “whiskey/whisky,” what naturally comes to mind are Ireland, Scotland, the US, and Japan. We are here to tell you that Australia should absolutely be on that list!
We delightfully bring to your attention to Starward Distillery’s Two-Fold, the two-grain Australian whisky that won the 2022 Gold Medal in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. It brought home 12 perfectly scored double-golds for peat sakes (“peat,” geddit?).
Starward Distillery
Starward Distillery, maker of the Two-Fold, makes its home in the heart of Melbourne, a city with its own unique cuisines and cultures. Founder David Vitale started out as a craft beer brewer, and in the early 2000s had the realization that “single malts are the craft Beers of the whiskey industry” and off he went.
By using Australian malted barley and grains, Australian Wine barrels, and the crazy Australian climate, he managed to create a distinctly Australian whisky: a spirit that offers all the characteristics of a whisky, plus the body of a good wine: rich mouth feel, complex texture, and a little of the bite from tannins of grapes.
One exciting unboxing!
Starward’s unique whiskeys are made from high-quality local ingredients and aged in either red wine barrels or ginger beer casks. The result is a lighter, fruitier whisky that can be mixed into cocktails, drunk during dinner, or sipped when BBQ-ing.
In other words, a Starward’s are whiskeys for “whenever!”
Beautiful to look at, beautiful to drink.
FirstTaste
We were turned on to Starward’s spirits by a reader who wrote to us after reading our articles on making Old Fashioneds. We sampled it straight to get a sense of the flavors and other notes before using it in our favorite cocktail, we of course we did 😉
“Assemble all your ingredients” to make one fantastic Old Fashioned!
The first thoughts of the TastingCrew about the Two-Fold were: smooth, tasty, bright, and delicious.
The consensus was that the Two-Fold is a “young whisky with a mature taste!”
Oh darling, that pour is hardly enough!
As suggested to us during our recent spirits tasting at Boston Harbor Distillery, one or two drops of water (just one or two) help to enhance the aroma.
Here is a more in-depth explanation of why…and experience it on your own, repeatedly if needed 🙂
The Two-Fold Old Fashioned
The Old Fashioned is a classic drink made by muddling sugar with bitters and water, adding whisky, and garnishing with an orange slice and a cocktail cherry.
The name comes from people ordering the drink the “old-fashioned way.”
Beautiful in every sense.
We made our Two-Fold Old Fashioned this way:
- 2 tsp. Barsmith Simple Syrup,
- 3 dashes bitters,
- Ice cubes,
- 2 oz. Starward Two-Fold Whisky,
- A Luxardo cherry, and
- An orange peel (twisted to release the oil).
Tasting Crew
Willing testers.
As with all RainyDayTasting events, we had plenty of rich food to counter the alcohols consumed. This one was no exception….steak tips, sausages, and lots of tasty desserts!!!
This was a “choose your own order of courses” kind of event.
By the end of the evening, we had clearly made a nice dent in the bottle of Two-Fold. This Starward whisky was excellent for its extreme drinkability before, with, and after the meal.
We think we may have found our “house” whisky!
All orange slices were sliced before imbibe-ment.
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