Pinhook Rye’d On
Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey
48.5% ABV
$40
Website
What the Producer Says
Each year, Pinhook releases a new vintage of bourbons and ryes. Every expression is the best representation of our barrels at that moment in time, and dedicated to a promising young thoroughbred. Through a combination of careful barrel selection, blending in small batches, and meticulous proofing, each Pinhook vintage has a personality as unique as the horse on the label.
The 2020 flagship rye release is the inaugural expression of Pinhook using our proprietary mashbill. Developed, distilled and aged over 2 years at Castle & Key Distillery in Frankfort, KY, our latest rye was blended and proofed by Sean Josephs, our Master Taster.
Corn: 20
Rye: 60
Malted Barley: 20
This Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey brims with aromas of peach, spearmint, and cinnamon, which lead to a palate of cherry, toffee, and clove.
Non-Chill Filtered. Distilled and bottled by Castle & Key Distillery, Frankfort, KY. Aged more than 2 years.
What Gary Says
Nose: Caramel corn with cinnamon, fresh mint, tangerines, notes of fennel; bit of water brings out a note of peach cobbler.
Palate: Cherry cough drops with mint and orange, honey, cinnamon-pepper spice, hint of clove; bit of water dampens the cherry some along with the spice edge.
Finish: Short to moderate in length with fading cinnamon.
Comments: Having had the wonderful opportunity to tour Castle & Key distillery back in April 2017 (and again in April 2019 – what a difference two years made!), I was anxious to get my first taste of whiskey coming out of there. I happened to be in Tennessee in early March 2020 (as luck would have it, the day the WHO announced that COVID-19 was officially a pandemic) where this had just been released, and I immediately bought one. Not since Willett released their first 2 year rye whiskey was I that excited to buy a 2 year whiskey. I should have let that experience temper my expectations.
So – it’s not bad. In fact, there isn’t anything off-putting about it. But it’s a 2 year old spirit – and that shows. It isn’t as minty as other ryes, and the cherry cough drop note is definitely unique. But it also isn’t a $40 whiskey I’d buy again. In fact I’ll likely set portions of this aside in sample bottles to revisit in the years to come against maturing stocks of the same mashbill – because that’s what whiskey-geeks do.