starka is a barrel-aged vodka, typically double-distilled from a rye mash in column stills, with roots dating back to the fifteenth century in eastern Europe (primarily Poland, Lithuania, and Russia). See double distillation and vodka. Some producers may age the spirit in used wine or whisky barrels. Flavoring botanicals, if used, are imbued into the spirit during barrel aging rather than distillation. (Apple and lime leaves and plum blossoms are common.) Modern starka obtains the majority of its coloring from the interaction of the distillate with the wooden barrel; the length of time in which the interaction occurs can range from a few months to over fifty years.
Modern starka production centers around Poland and the United States, with Polmos Szeczin in Poland producing a range of starkas from ten years to fifty years old (Szecin’s production facility in Lithuania no longer makes starka). In the United States, craft distillers in Missouri and Oregon have produced starka that is barrel aged for less than a year but does not contain flavoring botanicals.
Modern apocryphal reports suggest that a father, to celebrate his child’s birth, would fill an oak barrel previously used to hold wine with a 75-proof distillate, add flavoring botanicals if desired, seal the barrel with beeswax, and then bury it, not to be dug up until the child’s wedding day. Traditionally, starka is consumed as a chilled shot, accompanied by zakuski, the traditional Baltic appetizer of cured meats, hard cheeses, pickled vegetables, and sardines. In the fifteenth-century Polish language, starka meant both the style of vodka itself as well as an old woman.
It should be noted that modern starka differs from whisky in that it is distilled to a much higher proof and hence enters the barrel with far fewer congeners than whisky. This results in a much lighter spirit, with most of the flavor coming from extraction from the wood, not oxidation of the congeners.
See also vodka.
Mayhew, Lance. “Starka: Bridging the Gap Between Vodka and Whiskey.” Chilled Magazine.https://chilledmagazine.com/starka-bridging-the-gap-between-vodka-and-whiskey (accessed April 6, 2021).
Saint Louis Distillery website. http://www.stldistillery.com/ (accessed April 6, 2021).
By: Lance J. Mayhew