u/Avgjoe_whiskey

Proof: 119

Age: 6 years

Mashbill: 60%corn, 20% Rye, 20% Malted barley

Nose: velvety caramel, sweet oak, honey

Palate: oak, toffee, honey, brown sugar, stone fruits- everything good about tokaji

Finish- moves into darker fruits, figs, dates, raisins and closes out with a slightly tannic grape note.

Overall: It beautiful. It’s oaky, sweet, dark but packs a fruit punch at the same time. I can’t sing the praises of this bottle enough. It’s deep. It’s complex. It’s masterfully executed. I snagged this bottle for $60 and I’d definitely pay more.

Overall: 8/10

Proof: 108

Age: 4.5 years

Mashbill: 58% corn, 27% Rye, 15% Malted barley

Finish: 3-8 months in VDN barrels

Nose: vanilla, oak, brown sugar. Surprisingly zero orange

Palate: cinnamon, brown sugar, peppery

Finish: Medium. Pepper carries through. A little leather and oak to close things out.

Overall: I couldn’t detect a single hint of citrus here. And oddly if I tried this blind I’d peg it for a rye. It’s very rye heavy. Don’t get me wrong, I like it. Outside of the Terroir series I’m quite the starlight fan. But I definitely don’t get any VDN here.

Rating: 6/10

Proof: 101

Age: NAS

Mashbill: blended high rye bourbon mashbills

Nose: french toast and vanilla

Palate: baking spices, berries, vanilla, caramel, toasted oak, lightly floral. Quite a bit going on here!

Finish: Brown sugar and baking spices trail off into a kind of smoky cream.

Overall: I was quite surprised by this one. It definitely punches above its weight in price. It’s thick, oily and carries solid complexity on the palate. This thing is a very solid purchase as a sub $40 bottle.

Rating: 6.5/10

Proof: 107

Age: 2 years

Mashbill: undisclosed

Nose: Vanilla, caramel, honey roasted peanuts

Palate: Caramel, baking slices, peanut brittle

Finish: Baking spices, leather and toasted oak. Long.

Overall: I knew Beam wouldn’t release 2 year garbage. Especially at $80. I doubted that it would be worth that price at that age and I’d say I was right. Luckily I snagged this bottle for $50 and I’d say it’s a fair price in that range. It’s only really good if you consider the young age. If you take that factor out of the equation, it’s just an ok pour.

Rating: 6/10

I’m a sucker for the odd and experimental. I love trying something new. Starlight has been a favorite of mine for that purpose. They’re not afraid to experiment with different finishes and I love that about them. It doesn’t hurt that I generally find they make a solid product. So when I got an email from Binny’s about this Terroir series, where they finish in barrels of differing oaks from around Europe, I knew I had to give it a try. 6 different offerings were released in this series. I picked up 2 of them yesterday. This review is 2/2.

Proof: 114.4

Age: 4.5 years

Mashbill: Not listed but I believe it is their standard bourbon blend of 3 grain and 4 grain Mashbills.

Finish- oak from Papuk mountain in Croatia.

Nose: chestnuts, earthy tannins, baking spices. Similar to the Scandinavian, but a moderate improvement.

Palate: Tobacco and leather up front, then it goes unpleasantly astringent and hot. Like mouth puckeringly dry and bitter that luckily subsides with more sips.

Finish: Super dry and lasts way too long. Maybe some cinnamon and allspice in there but it’s very muted.

Overall: Ok, the Scandinavian oak is no longer the worst I’ve had from Starlight. This topped it. It’s a young, tannic mess. The tobacco and leather up front is kind of nice but it’s down hill from there. I’m really hopeful that I can write this off as being a neck pour and I’ll revisit it in the future, but Starlight definitely took a major hit with these. I was thinking about going back to get the Balkan oak, but after these I’ll probably pass. Meh, who am I kidding, I’ll probably grab it if it’s still there next visit.

Overall: 4.125/10

I’m a sucker for the odd and experimental. I love trying something new. Starlight has been a favorite of mine for that purpose. They’re not afraid to experiment with different finishes and I love that about them. It doesn’t hurt that I generally find they make a solid product. So when I got an email from Binny’s about this Terroir series, where they finish in barrels of differing oaks from around Europe, I knew I had to give it a try. 6 different offerings were released in this series. I picked up 2 of them yesterday. This review is 1/2.

Proof: 114

Age: 4.5 years

Mashbill: Not listed but I believe it is their standard bourbon blend of 3 grain and 4 grain Mashbills.

Finish: Scandinavian oak from Sweden.

Nose: old sawn oak, very earthy and tannic. Really underwhelming and lacking.

Palate: Those bitter tannins punch you right up front followed by old dusty corn and toasted oak. Again, pretty lackluster and underwhelming.

Finish: Things finally pick up a bit here as vanilla and coconut really take over on the back end. This is what I was hoping for up front but it’s too little too late. It comes in strong and fades very quickly leaving a bit of toasted marshmallow to close things out.

Overall: Big disappointment. I was hoping more for the creamy/coconut that was advertised and instead it’s just earthy and tannic. I’ve been a fan of everything I’ve had from Starlight up until this point. This isn’t bad, but it most definitely misses the mark I was hoping for. Easily the worst bottle I’ve had from them so far. This is not a $70 bottle. It’s definitely a gimmick that I got way too excited for.

Rating: 4.75/10