The Australian whisky brand Starward, has announced the UK
launch of its Octave Barrels single malt whisky.
Starward Octave Barrels (48% ABV) was initially matured in
American oak barrels, before a further period of maturation in Barossa Shiraz red
wine casks from Australia’s oldest, family-owned winery – Yalumba.
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| Starward Octave Barrels |
Using some of the world’s oldest Shiraz plantings, once Yalumba’s The Octavius is bottled, the freshly emptied barrels are sent to Starward’s Port Melbourne distillery and filled with its signature single malt.
Due to being one of the world’s few red wines to be aged in
specialty 100l barrels, the smaller volume allows for more wood-whisky
interaction so Starward’s single malt can soak up more of the Shiraz’s characteristics
as it matures.
Commenting on the launch, David Vitale, Founder of Starward,
said: “Our friendship with Yalumba stretches back to Starward’s first batch of
whisky which was almost exclusively matured in their red wine barrels, which
were generously gifted to us back in 2013. We continue to have a brilliant
relationship and using Yalumba’s The Octavius barrels we’ve been able to create
a single malt that has all the bold flavours you’d expect from the combination
of American oak barrels and Barossa Shiraz maturation. We can’t wait to see
what UK drinkers make of the brilliantly full-bodied single malt.”
Starward Octave Barrels, is now available from select
specialist retailers in the UK, for a RRP of £85.00.
Posted by Steve Rush