Starward New World Projects Review

Hi everyone,

Australian whisky has become bigger and bigger in the last few years but not much of it makes its way to the UK for me to try it.

Therefore, I haven’t had a chance to try any of the big guns like Lark or Sullivan’s Cove but today I’ve got one that I’ve seen quite a bit more of in the UK: Starward.

We usually see the normal one about, but at a festival I was able to try this limited version from red wine casks. Its only 2.25 years old, so isn’t even whisky yet technically.

 

Starward New World Projects 41%

Colour: Dark Gold/Redish

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: Red wine dominant but well balanced, some red gummy bears, creamy vanilla, cherry lips, white sugar. Works well.

Taste: Sour arrival with nice cherry, then soft, creamy, red gummy bears, strawberry laces, nice sour Haribo.

Finish: Medium length. More cherry lips, some good oak.

I really wouldn’t have guessed it was that young tasting it blind. The red wine is pretty obvious but actually works really well.

70/100

Thanks for reading!

Australian Review #5

Whisky Network Review #837

Network Average: 75.1

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

Hellyers Road x4 Reviews: Roaring Forty, Original 10, Pinot Noir & Lightly Peated

Hi everyone,

The Malt Vault in Utrecht is a highly recommended whisky bar in The Netherlands, in which I had a tasting booked. I also happened to taste some whiskies while I was there too, resulting in these reviews.

These first ones were a rapid-fire collection of whisky from Tasmania, Australia. A first for me because I’d never had Australian whisky before. The Hellyers Road distillery was founded in 1999.

 

Hellyers Road Roaring Forty 40%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Pastry and dough, an off note like burnt rubber, herbal.

Taste: Soft, lacking mouthfeel, vanilla, creamy, almost that rubber creeping in.

Finish: Medium length. Dough and pastry, creamy.

Not particularly my style of whisky. If you enjoy Jura, you’ll probably enjoy this.

60/100

Hellyers Road Original 10 46.2%

Colour: Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Much cleaner than the 40. Same style but with some oak, quite dry and subtle.

Taste: Clean, malt, nice fresh citrus and earthy malt, then a little too spicy but tones down into the finish.

Finish: Long length. Spicy but good with malt, vanilla and dry oak.

My favourite of these four. A nice clean and sippable whisky.

68/100

Hellyers Road Pinot Noir 46.2%

Colour: Light Amber

Body: Medium

Nose: The burnt rubber returns with more fruit and sweetness, cherry stones, better as it opens up with butter.

Taste: Soft and light, red berries, creamy, vanilla, dry oak, a little rubber again.

Finish: Medium length. Red berries, a little bitterness coming in, dry oak.

Not so much my thing, although others have thought good things.

64/100

Hellyers Road Lightly Peated 46.2%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Nice light smoke, some dough, subtle citrus note, lemon and watermelon.

Taste: Soft and creamy, vanilla, very light smoke, some orange peel, oak.

Finish: Medium length. Some spice comes in, malt and a little chocolate.

The light citrus and subtle smoke reminds me of the Penderyn Peated but the dough reminds me of Jura.

67/100

Distillery: Hellyers Road

Average Score: 68.8

Distillery Ranking: 53rd/ 62 places

Up/Down: N/a

Thanks for reading!

Australian Reviews #1-#4

Whisky Network Reviews #732-#735

Network Average: 74.9

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?