Tasted at Saratoga Whiskey Club Tasting # 175 - Starlight Distillery, hosted by Andrew Jerdonek from Starlight. Starlight is a true grain-to-glass farm distillery. Located at Huber’s Orchard, Winery, & Vineyards in the small, unincorporated town of Starlight in southern Indiana, Starlight Distillery calls upon a foundation of family history to craft fine American spirits. Seven generations of Hubers have sustainably operated the now 850-acre family-owned estate established in 1843 by German immigrant, Simon Huber—a farmer and winemaker—and have been producing exceptional agricultural products for over 179 years. Named for the town, farmers, and community of Starlight, Indiana, Starlight Distillery was established in 2001 by Greg and Ted Huber to distill spirits as their ancestors did in the 1800s. Their first commercial brandy was released in 2004 and since then, this family affair has grown leaps and bounds, crafting award-winning brandy, rye, bourbon, and more. As one of the few American whiskey producers utilizing sweet mash fermentation rather than sour mash, the Hubers are dedicated to overseeing every step of production, from the growing of raw material to the meticulous, labor-intensive method of fermentation. While production takes place every day of the week, the distillery operates in a truly small-batch fashion with brandies distilled in an 80-liter Christian Carl copper pot still and grains distilled in a 500-liter Vendome brass and copper pot still. Distillation is performed by several Master Distillers, including Ted and his two sons, Christian and Blake, with each distiller utilizing their own mash bills, fermentation methods, and distillation techniques to create spirits which are then aged and meticulously blended by the entire team to create a consistent house style. This 20-barrel small batch bourbon is Batch No. B2302. It is a blend of mash bills including a 3-grain mash bill of 60% corn, 20% rye, 20% malted barley and a 4-grain mash bill of 51% corn, 20% rye, 20% malted barley, 9% wheat. It is composed of bourbons aged 4.5–6.5 years and then finished 4–14 months in a combination of Foursquare Barbados rum casks and Worthy Park Jamaican rum casks.