Review #707 - Starlight Single Barrel Bourbon Finished in Armagnac Barrels - Rural Inn Pick
Starlight distillery/the Huber Orchard and Winery is known for a few different things: wine, brandies, and finishing their whisky in just about every cask type imaginable. Sherry casks, honey barrels, blueberry liqueur casks, beer barrels, wine casks, brandy casks - you name it, Starlight has put bourbon or rye in it. Here's one example of those finished whiskies: a single barrel bourbon which was finished in an Armagnac cask.
This specific example we're reviewing spent four years in a traditional new charred American white oak barrel before that Armagnac finish, which is where we get our age statement of 4 years. At the time of bottling, this sat at a barrel proof strength of 52.8% ABV (105.6 proof). This single barrel was selected by Rural Inn, a well-known spirits retailer in Indianapolis, Indiana, which was established all the way back in 1945.
Starlight Single Barrel Bourbon Finished in Armagnac Barrels - Rural Inn Pick
USA - Bourbon
Price: USD 78 (2025)
Age Statement: 4 Years
Strength: 52.8% ABV
Cask Makeup: Finished in an Armagnac cask
Details: Barrel 21-2314-1
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 4 times over 5 months; bottles at 100% (blind tasting), 90% (blind tasting), 80% (blind tasting), and 70% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Interesting, there are two sides to this: first, a richer side with cherry wood, balsamic vinegar, and sweetness from brown sugar and honey. After that, a much sharper side develops: grainy, very pepper, young, with resinous pine sap. The sharp side begins to take over in some tasting sessions; accents included cornbread and musty floral notes.
Palate: The mouthfeel has a medium thickness; this is a bit unusual, with a strange combination of flavors. Grainy notes, young oak, and sharp pepper; there's a bit of sweetness of brown sugar and cherry cola. Herbs like sage arrive, and later, we get sharp fruit of orange and grapefruit. In other tastings, we found white grape, white pepper, and sour oak. Overall, varied but a bit disjointed.
Finish: Medium length, with some youthful sharpness like dry oak, spirit heat, and a bit of grain again. Vanilla, lemon, and orange add some lighter notes, while grape and hints of bitter chocolate bring darker flavors. In the aftertaste, we get a hint of cinnamon and cherry.
Final Note: We struggled with this bottle a bit - our experiences were all over the place. There are hints of that Armagnac cask which bring some sweet fruit notes, but there's also a strong underlying young whisky note which overwhelmed a few of the tastings. It was quite sharp and grainy at times, but there were some nice baking spices to balance that as well... hard to judge this one, but it isn't a bottle we're reaching for too often.
Value is a bit lower as this wasn't one of our favorite bottles; that said, this price for an Armagnac-finished bourbon is on the cheaper end of the scale of what's available. These Starlight single barrels are sometimes hits and sometimes misses - that's part of the appeal of single barrels, but we're a little bit hesitant to buy another with this cask combination.
Our Average Rating: 5.2 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 4.86
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
Check out our other Starlight reviews:
Review #461 - Starlight Single Barrel Rye Finished in Honey Barrels
