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Starlight’s Family Reserve releases have always been a place for the Huber family to show off their highest regarded whiskies. Each year the distillery rolls out a handful of bottles available only at their distillery in Borden, Indiana. These whiskies come in all different forms from rye whiskey to bourbon and from double-oaked to those with a creative finish. 2024 saw the distillery release five whiskies as part of their Family Reserve line.
Among the five whiskies, two of them were picked by “The Huber Family” – an 8.5-year-old bourbon and rye whiskey. The other three were labeled as being picked by the Master Distiller (which would be Ted Huber). The difference between these two groups is that the barrels that were picked by “The Huber Family” had to be a consensus pick between the three Huber’s (Ted, Blake and Christian).
The concept of Starlight’s Family Reserve
Starlight has always prided itself on the techniques they use to make their whiskies. From the start, they try to source all of their grain from their own farm. That grain then gets milled and used in a sweet mash fermentation process that takes a week to complete (the industry average is 72 hours) in closed-top fermenters. Then the mash is double distilled on a Vendome copper pot still which is known to give whiskies a distinctive oily texture.
The whiskey that Starlight releases typically isn’t that old. I’ve read instances of most batches containing 4 to 6-year-old barrels with the occasional 7-or-8-year old barrel to round them out.
If you have experience with Starlight whiskies, it’s probably one of their finished whiskies. For better or worse, when I think of Starlight, I think of finished whiskey and I think most enthusiasts do too. I’ve had their unfinished bourbon and rye before and I never fully enjoyed it. So when I see two of their most highly regarded releases coming out straight up, I begin to worry.
The bourbon I’m reviewing today is 8 1/2 years old which was about just as old as you could get back in 2024. In fact, at the time of writing, Starlight has just released their first 10-year-old bourbon. This is probably from stocks of the first generation of barrels that they filled. I am always wary of first generation whiskies because most distilleries will assess their products every four years or so and fine-tune things to create a better product.
From my personal experience, age alone will not solve problems with flawed distillate – which most new distilleries will inevitably make. I’d rather drink a five-year-old whiskey from a 10-year-old distillery rather than a 10-year-old whiskey from the same distillery because I know it’s probably a better product due to adjustments to their process. Keep this in mind as the review goes on because I’ll revisit this thought.
How is Family Reserve chosen?
Family Reserve is never the result of one person selecting a barrel – it’s always the result of Ted (the dad) and his sons Christian and Blake scouring their rickhouses and sampling barrels until they all agree on one that they think is worthy of the moniker. If just one of the men doesn’t like it, it doesn’t get to wear the Family Reserve Label.
So which bourbon did they pick? After all, there are two mash bill recipes (that we know of) that they distill. The first one is a 3-grain recipe coming in at 60% corn, 20% rye and 20% malted barley. The second is a 4-grain mash bill that uses 51% corn, 20% rye, 20% wheat and 9% malted barley. I haven’t been able to find out which recipe this exact barrel used, so if you happen to know, send me a message and I’ll update this section.
2024’s Family Reserve Bourbon was released right before Thanksgiving Weekend and was bottled at 120.1 proof. This single barrel yielded just under 150 bottles. I saw videos of the line on release day and while there was a good amount of people waiting in line to get one, it did not sell out in one day. I don’t know if that’s because of the frigid weather or if they set some back to sell to customers who might not have been able to make it on the exact release day. The fact remains that if you got one of these bottles, you’re in rare company.
I’ve tried the 2023 release of Family Reserve Rye and it was one of the best things I’ve tasted from Starlight. So how will an older barrel of their bourbon taste? I’m about to find out. A special thanks to Mike over at Mostly Peaceful Bourbon for the opportunity to try this release. As usual, I sampled this neat in a glencairn.
Tasting Notes
Nose: Bright red fruit jumps out first – black cherry compote with vanilla cake batter and a touch of orange oil. There are plenty of baking spices with cinnamon, nutmeg and clove leading the way. I’m surprised to find an element of tobacco and seasoned oak at just 8.5 years old, but then again, that it’s not every day you get to smell something made in a pot still that’s this old. There is a small floral note that I’m also picking up that gives me that kind of craft vibe, but otherwise this is very well-put together. Overall, the nose has a syrupy sweetness with just the right amount of spice, fruit and tannins. Well done.
Palate: Much more rich and viscous than I was expecting. I can find sweetness from salted caramel and brown sugar which leads to cherry pie filling, cocoa nibs, and cinnamon stick. It’s the cocoa that makes me wonder if this is the four-grain mash bill (because I get that note in wheated bourbons a lot). As the session goes on, I’m finding some smores notes with vanilla marshmallow and graham crackers (I already covered the chocolate). This is pretty excellent for a bourbon like this. For spices I can taste cinnamon, nutmeg and some anise. When it comes to tannins, I can detect some tea leaves, oak and a bit of cedarwood as the session goes on. The cedar isn’t quite as good as other examples I’ve found it in and it kind of comes off as a little crafty to me. Still, the palate is a winner through-and-through.
Finish: A good bit of heat carries its way into the finish with red pepper flakes and warm cinnamon. There are more cherries along with dark chocolate and oak. The sweetness lingers on with vanilla and caramel. It’s not a super complex finish, but it’s very nice.
Score: 8/10
I have typically not liked the bourbon that Starlight has produced, but this one has made me reevaluate my stance. Each sip was well-rounded and packed full of flavor. The best part is that there is virtually no evidence of youthful craft notes which is a thing that has plagued their other releases.
If I had to guess which mash bill this bourbon used, I’m going to go with the Four Grain. There is a softness that combines with cherries and chocolate (two notes I get in most wheated bourbon) that makes me believe that’s what it is. I’m normally not a fan of four grain whiskies either, but this one could be the one that changes my mind.
Final Thoughts
If Starlight had rolled out with a product like this at the very beginning (I know this isn’t how it works), I think they would currently be held in the highest regard around the whiskey community. But great results take time and you don’t always get them right off the bat.
I guess the takeaway would be that whatever your preconceived notions were about this brand, throw all of that out the window when you see a “Family Reserve” medal hanging off the neck. I would have believed it to be all marketing and hype before I had a chance to actually taste it, and now I’m a believer. I sincerely hope that Starlight’s future bottles all turn out this good.