The end of the “Bourbon Renaissance” in America (what I’m going to call the boom and recent downtown) has seen distilleries producing a wide variety of other spirits to try to keep the overall whiskey trend alive…without much luck, I’m afraid. One of those other spirits is the revival of a type that had been all but forgotten about: Light Whiskey. Unlike bourbons, Light Whiskies don’t have a specific mash bill requirement except that they be made of cereal grains (although they do tend to be corn heavy), they get distilled between 80 and 95 percent (160 to 190 proof), then put into either used oak or new, but uncharted, oak barrels. This ends up producing a whiskey that is often very smooth, although usually at a much higher proof than bourbon. And now Starlight Distillery has entered the chat with a Single Barrel Indiana Light Whiskey that was chosen by a Facebook group I’m a member of. There is no mash bill statement, but it is made on Huber’s Farm (the name of Starlight’s property), aged for 9 years, and bottled at 126.3 proof.
The first thing that strikes you is just how “light” this Light Whiskey is. For something aged 9 years, it didn’t pick up much color…which does go to show you how much influence the char of a barrel has. This is a light-to-medium amber color and created very slow moving legs when swirled in the glass. The aroma was of corn and marshmallow, with only the slightest hints of caramel, vanilla, and oak that you get from bourbon. Taking a sip, I got tons of sweetness up front…candy-like with more marshmallow and bright fruit. The middle gets dominated on early sips by the high proof point, adding lots of burn that really isn’t spice.
Overall, I would rate Starlight Light Whiskey a rather enjoyable first foray into the Light Whiskey category…enjoyable enough that I bought a second bottle! I look forward to exploring more of these in the future.
