Douglas Blyde: This Aussie whisky-maker has a secret weapon

Australia’s Starward began distilling a decade ago in a former Qantas maintenance hangar until demand for output meant a move to the ‘funky’ industrial space at Port Melbourne — close to the city’s ‘main strip and casino’, says founder, David Vitale.

Here, united in ambition to craft a whisky ‘unshackled from tradition’ the team of 15 brewers and former winemakers pull together to turn local barley into juicy spirit using ‘new-age technology’.

That raw, clear spirit metamorphoses into rich amber in a 1940s sawtooth-roof warehouse, the design of which encourages ‘thermodynamics’ betwixt alcohol and barrels previously containing Apera — a play on ‘aperitif’ and the word used for Australia’s version of sherry — and former red-wine casks.

Vitale, who believes whisky-making is ‘visceral’, says Melbourne’s climate leads to a fast, profound maturation. The resulting Starward Malt (£46, masterofmalt.com) tastes deliciously of alcoholised crème brûlée dusted with nutmeg, while Starward Wine Cask Edition (£49.95, masterofmalt.com) proffers plum pie and chicory.

Born to Sicilian parents, Vitale previously managed an e-learning financial developer platform, which provided fewer ‘white-knuckle moments’ than navigating Starward to success. Hence his gratefulness for the patience of investors ‘who had only my enthusiasm to back the vision’. Perhaps his home drinks cabinet — ‘filled with Islay as if there’s a global shortage!’ — also helped salve nerves? His middle daughter, Isla, born the day he earned his distilling licence is, it transpires, named in homage to that wild Scottish whisky region.

Vitale loves learning about how mixologists interpret Starward, and at Starward HQ, he employs a bartender in residence, hired via video applications. In London, Hackney’s Behind This Wall bar concocted the flamboyant ‘bass straight’ cocktail, sumptuously combining Starward Wine Cask Edition with artichoke vermouth, lemon zest and sunken oyster. (behindthiswall.com)