Type Whisky | Producer Starward Whisky | Region Australia > Victoria > Melbourne | ABV 40% | Volume 700 ml | Price (AUD) ~$80
House notes
Starward Two-Fold is a double-grain Aussie whisky matured in Australian red wine barrels, and it tastes like Melbourne decided to make a bourbon-adjacent thing out of entirely its own ingredients. Red berry, soft spice, a little vanilla, a little dried plum, and a finish that stays long without getting dry. It is not trying to be American and it is not trying to be Scotch. It is trying to be a Melbourne whisky, and it nails it. Neat, it is gentle enough for someone who claims they don’t like whisky. In an Old Fashioned with an orange peel and a Luxardo cherry, it has a quiet red-wine backbone that Buffalo Trace can’t quite do.
What it pairs with
Designed for the Old Fashioned. Also outstanding in a Manhattan-style riff with Carpano Antica; the shared red-wine character doubles the party. Food pairings lean toward braised beef, lamb shoulder, roast duck with cherry, and dark chocolate with sea salt. Less good in a Sour (the berry fights the lemon). Also a very easy bottle to pour neat if you have someone over who has only ever drunk Scotch and thinks Australian whisky is a novelty. It is not a novelty. It is the bottle that quietly converts them.
About the producer
Starward was founded in 2007 by David Vitale and distills in Port Melbourne. Two-Fold uses Australian wheat and malted barley, double-matured in Australian shiraz and cabernet barrels, which is as local a whisky as you can make without bottling the Yarra itself.