Whisky is a drink whose entire nature
speaks against the idea of innovation.
A simple concoction of barley, water and
malt, it can take upwards of five years to
prepare, meaning one has to be supremely
confident of their vision to go out on a limb.
Yet for Melbourne-based Starward Whisky,
that was the whole point. “I just wanted
to make a distinctive Australian whisky,”
explains founder David Vitale, “and I
wanted to offer it to the world with pride.”
Not that life as a distiller was always
on the cards. “I’m actually a frustrated
homebrewer,” he laughs. Vitale set up
his own microbrewery in 2003, but soon
came up against the base fact of brewing:
good beer doesn’t travel well. “I knew that
whatever I might be doing, I wanted to take
it to the world.” That’s when he discovered
single malt whisky. “When you look at
brands like Glenfiddich and the peated
Starward x Smith Journal
STARWARD BOUND
THIS MELBOURNE DISTILLERY IS OVERTURNING
500 YEARS OF WHISKY LORE – AND MAKING THE
WORLD STAND UP AND TAKE NOTICE.
Writer Luke Ryan
Photographer Jack Hawkins
whiskies, you realise that these are the
craft beers of the whisky family. They
talk about flavour, place and provenance
in a way that really captivated me.”
After doing an apprenticeship with
Hobart’s Lark Distillery, Vitale moved
back to Melbourne in 2007 to establish
Starward in the unlikely surrounds of a
former Qantas maintenance hangar. The
early years were a white-knuckle ride,
but Vitale was always clear about what
he wanted to create: a whisky that was
affordable, approachable and that tasted
uniquely of Melbourne. “Provenance is so
important to us,” he says. “We only use
Australian red wine barrels [to age our
whisky in], and all our ingredients come
from within a day’s drive of the distillery.”
Perhaps even more significant is the
weather. Rather than fight Melbourne’s
famously erratic climate, which can
switch from searing heat to bitter cold
in a matter of hours, Vitale made it a
key component of Starward’s ageing
process. “Instead of our barrels resting
through the colder months, they’re always
working.” The result is a rich, mellow
whisky that arrives in a much shorter
timeframe than its Scottish cousins.
After years of toil, Vitale’s persistence and
vision are paying off. Starward recently
doubled its capacity, and in 2016 the label’s
single malt took out Best Craft Distiller
Whiskey at the Global Spirits Competition.
With its focus on making Australian whisky
accessible, Vitale envisages a time when
bottles of Starward will stand alongside
the better-known Scottish and Japanese
brands. “It’s still early days,” he says.
“But if there’s any field where you
want to dream big, it’s whisky.” •