Starlight Distillery Celebrates 25 Years With 10-Year Bourbon and 20-Year Brandy

Starlight Distillery, the Huber family’s grain-to-glass and fruit-to-glass distillery in Borden, Indiana, tells BourbonBlog.com it will celebrate its 25th anniversary with two exceptionally limited releases: a 10-Year Reserve Bourbon and a 20-Year Reserve Brandy.

The Huber family has farmed in Southern Indiana since 1843 and later built one of the region’s best-known winery and distillery operations. Starlight’s distilling program began with estate-grown fruit brandy before expanding into bourbon and other whiskeys.

The distillery will release only 100 bottles of the bourbon and 150 bottles of the brandy. Both will be available exclusively at Starlight Distillery beginning August 1, 2026.

Prices, official tasting notes and purchase-limit details have not yet been shared.

To be first to continue to learn more about rare releases like this, subscribe to our newsletter on this link. 

Starlight 25th Anniversary Releases: Quick Facts

Together, the two releases highlight the Huber family’s grain-to-glass and fruit-to-glass approach, including estate-grown ingredients, lengthy fermentations, pot distillation and extensive barrel maturation.

Starlight 25th Anniversary 10-Year Reserve Bourbon

Starlight’s 25th Anniversary Reserve Bourbon is a 10-year-old single-barrel bourbon made with non-GMO grains grown on the Huber family farm.

The farm has remained in the Huber family for more than 184 years and seven generations.

The bourbon begins with a three-grain sweet mash and undergoes a full seven-day fermentation before being double pot distilled. It entered the barrel at 110 proof.

For maturation, Starlight used a Canton Cooperage barrel featuring a No. 3-to-No. 4 char, charred heads and staves that had been air-dried for two years.

The barrel rested on the southeast side of Warehouse 2, where warmer conditions and greater temperature fluctuations helped increase the bourbon’s proof as it matured.

After 10 years, the bourbon was bottled directly from the barrel at 120.4 proof. It will be released at full cask strength and completely unfiltered.

Only 100 bottles of the Starlight 25th Anniversary Reserve Bourbon will be available.

Starlight 20-Year Reserve Brandy

The story of Starlight’s 20-Year Reserve Brandy begins with the challenging 2005 grape harvest.

As Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Gulf Coast, remnants of the storm pushed a frontal boundary through Southern Indiana and dropped 5.2 inches of rain on Starlight’s vineyards over three days.

The Starlight team harvested and processed fruit on six of the seven days leading up to the storm. During the two weeks that followed, the team sorted the fruit by hand, separating affected clusters from grapes that continued to ripen during the warm and sunny fall weather.

The resulting blend included estate-grown Villard, Seyval, Vidal, Chardonel and other cool-climate grape varieties.

The brandy was distilled and placed into a barrel on September 23, 2005.

It initially matured in a new 60-gallon, medium-toast French Allier oak cask produced by Kelvin Cooperage. After aging in that barrel from 2005 until 2018, the brandy was transferred into a second-use, 60-gallon French Limousin oak cask from Radoux Cooperage.

It remained in the second barrel until June 10, 2026, bringing its total maturation period to nearly 21 years.

The Starlight 20-Year Reserve Brandy is bottled at 86.3 proof, with only 150 bottles available.

Two Limited Anniversary Releases Arriving August 1

Both anniversary spirits will be sold exclusively at Starlight Distillery beginning August 1, 2026.

The 10-Year Reserve Bourbon reflects Starlight’s estate-grown grain program, extended sweet-mash fermentation, double pot distillation and warehouse aging practices.

The 20-Year Reserve Brandy represents more than two decades of patience and began with one of the most challenging grape harvests in the distillery’s history.

With only 250 bottles available between the two releases, quantities will be extremely limited.