Starward Botrytis Cask Single Malt Whisky

Written By Campbell Mattinson
Bottle of Starward Botrytis Cask.

Starward Botrytis Cask Single Malt Whisky
AU$169, 48% alcohol, Melbourne/Victoria.

This whisky – part of Starward’s Project program – spent seven years maturing in casks previously filled with a lush golden dessert wine, produced from semillon grapes affected by botrytis. This whisky was sent to me as a media sample in July 2024 but, alas, it got lost among the thousands of sample bottles that I receive each year. It shouldn’t have; it’s very good. It was available by ballot at the time of its release and has now come and gone, but for the record:

This whisky is a thing of beauty. There’s so much butterscotch and shortbread-like aroma and flavour; there’s such a rush of stonefruit and caramel; there’s an orange-blossom or orange oil note that dives straight into that caramel-and-butter deliciousness. It’s cleansing, dry and warm, it doesn’t come across as sweet, and yet all of its hallmarks have a lusciousness to them. 93 points – Campbell Mattinson.

Campbell Mattinson

This post was written by Campbell Mattinson. Mattinson is a former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion book, former editor of Halliday magazine, former editor of Australian Sommelier Magazine and founder of The Winefront business. He is the author of five books on wine – four of which were bestsellers (The Wine Hunter, the Big Red Wine Book 2008, the Big Red Wine Book 2009, and the Big Red Wine Book 2010).

Mattinson is also the founder of the Mattinson Photography business.

Campbell Mattinson has been an independent journalist, wine critic and photographer for forty years. He’s the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He’s a past winner of a Louis Roederer International Wine Media Award; is the author of the award-winning book The Wine Hunter; and is the author of the best-selling novel We Were Not Men. He’s also a winner of a St Kilda Film Festival Award (as writer-director) and is a former winner of the national Best Australian Sports Writing Award. In 2026 three of his photographs were short-listed for the World Food Photography Awards.

Campbell Mattinson, who is 100% independent, has tasted between 5000 and 10,000 wines each and every year for the past 25 years. He tastes blind, in comparative brackets, as often as is practicable.

Campbell Mattinson is a journalist, a photographer, a filmmaker and a wine critic. In all of these mediums his prime motive is to tell people's stories.

https://www.campbellmattinson.com
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