Rye Whiskey

High West A Midwinter Night’s Dram

/ / Review, Rye Whiskey /

High West A Midwinter Night’s Dram
Blend of Straight Rye Whiskeys

49.3% ABV
$100
Website
High West Midwinter Nights Dram

What the Producer Says

A limited release of High West Rendezvous Rye finished in French oak port barrels.

Straight Rye Whiskey:
95% rye, 5% barley malt from MGP
80% rye, 20% malted rye from HWD

Barrel Type(s): Aged in new, charred, white American oak and finished in French oak port barrels
Filtration: Not chill-filtered, or carbon treated.

Sensory Notes
Nose: Cinnamon rhubarb and plum pie, Orange Jaffa cake, star anise, cedar box, toasted pecan with dates
Taste: Black cherry reduction, molasses, birch root, fig jam, and ginger bread
Finish: Spiced clove and blackberries, candied ginger, wooden spice box, orange peel

What Gary Says

Nose:  Christmas spice, orange blossom,  freshly grated nutmeg, cinnamon, subtle notes of baked apples and raisins, hint of wintergreen mint, eucalyptus, and toasted oak.
Palate:  Warn and spicy, caramel fudge, rye zip, cinnamon, orange zest, nutmeg, bit of pepper spice, mint, and a hint of a sherry note.
Finish:  Moderately long with dried mint and vanilla.
Comments:  I was fortunate enough to have two samples of this from different batches (Act 4, Scene 2 & Act 7, Scene 2). I thought “Great, I can do a side-by-side comparison!” but honestly – they were incredibly similar. After three blind tastings, I opted to scrap the idea as the very subtle differences could have been simply expecting there must be a difference. And they weren’t consistent (I thought one had a slightly better finish, but then the next tasting thought it was the opposite!). I can’t say there isn’t any difference from batch to batch, but at least for these two – it was so subtle that if you liked one, I wouldn’t be worried about whether you’d like the other. All that said, this is a really nice dram! It is definitely rye whiskey, but different (for starters, I don’t get any dill or pickle juice notes which are common in many MGP ryes).  The French oak port barrel finishing is done really well, giving it a different spice and fruit characteristic.

Rating: Must Try

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Knob Creek Single Barrel Select Rye

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Knob Creek Single Barrel Select Rye
Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey

Comparing Different Barrels

57.5% ABV
$45 – $50
Website
Knob Creek Single Barrel Select Rye

What the Distillery Says

Unblended rye whiskey from a one-of-a-kind barrel chosen by your local retailer based on a sampling of our finest barrels.

Why Compare Two Different Barrels?

First off – it’s fun! But also because I thought it would be interesting to show just how different two barrels can be – and I happened to have both opened at the same time, so why not.

The Barrel Details

Barrel “A”
Barrel “B”
Picked By
Gourmands InternationalDeKalb Bottle House
Barreled On
12/10/20121/28/2014
Bottled On
7/17/20185/9/2019
Age
5 Years, 7 Months5 Years, 3 Months
Warehouse, Floor
Whse F, Floor 9Whse W-E, Floor 4

What Gary Says

Barrel “A”
Barrel “B”
Nose:Herbal, dill, lemongrass, toasted lemon zest, oak; a tad hot and sharp – water brings a maple and honey note with brown sugar.Rich, herbal with dill, thyme, fennel, orange zest, bit of brown sugar; water brings honey, vanilla and more orange.
Palate:Sharp, vanilla, orange, pepper spice, oak; water tamps the edges bringing more caramel and orange marmalade, and thickens the mouthfeel nicely.Thick mouthfeel, vanilla, honey, orange, chocolate, pepper slowly comes in with cinnamon and nutmeg in tow; water brings caramel, more orange, tamps the chocolate a bit and thickens the mouthfeel further.
Finish:Short to moderate in length, with oak and pepper.Moderately long with orange spice, oak and cinnamon
Comments:Rye can be quite good at a young age. This spent its time on the 9th floor, so a lot of heat up there. Not quite over-oaked, but definitely on the oaky end of the spectrum. I’m not a big fan of ‘oak bombs’, and this is nearing that for me. It improves a LOT with water (neat this would be squarely in the ‘Average’ bucket).This was bottled about a year after the other, and while a similar age it spent its time in the middle of the rickhouse. Every barrel is unique, but I think a fair amount of the difference is likely attributed to that location. Just delightful! Of course I know some of the folks involved in picking barrels for DeKalb Bottle House, and they’ve got good taste – so this side by side wasn’t a big surprise to me. A really nice rye at a great price.
Rating:
Average/Stands Out
Stands Out/Must Try

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Grand Traverse Distillery Islay Rye Whiskey

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Grand Traverse Distillery Islay Rye Whiskey

45% ABV
$50 (for a 375 mL)
Website
Grand Traverse Distillery Islay Rye

What the Distillery Says

Islay Rye (eye-la) is a small batch Rye Whiskey that takes two of our favorite things and combines them into something awesome and unique!
The mash bill is composed of 80% Rye and 20% Peated Malted Barley, making this a Rye Whiskey with a heavy nod to Islay Single Malt Scotches. Islay Rye is sure to please anyone who appreciates the bold flavor and subtle spice of a rye whiskey or the mellow smokiness and near floral character of a master-crafted Islay Single Malt.
We do not chill filter our whiskies so the taste and aroma is pure still and barrel. Enjoy!

What Gary Says

Nose:  Musty damp cardboard, mineral notes from freshly shoveled earth, old pencils, husky malt, given enough time I get rye baked bread (but having to work for it).
Palate:  Round mouthfeel, sweet rye spice with a bit of dill and a subtle citrus note; earthy notes with black tea.
Finish:  Short and drying, with earthy mineral notes.
Comments:  I love rye whiskey, and I love Islay single malts. When a friend had recommended this, I had really high hopes – which may have been my undoing. As a small distillery, perhaps there is a lot of variation batch to batch, as having read and watched their reviews – I can’t imagine what was in the bottle I got was the same whiskey. I really wanted to like this, but didn’t.
In fact, this is one of the few whiskies I have that I wouldn’t drink.  I tried leaving it sit in the glass for 30 minutes (which definitely made some difference), and while that allowed me to get a bit more out of it – the earthy/mineral notes were still pretty prominent, and just not in my wheelhouse.  I’ll share out in samples what is left from the bottle so friends and family can experience it for themselves (and they may have very different impressions). For me, there wasn’t any Islay smoke or peat going on. There was loads of earthiness – reminds me on the nose of when I till the garden for the first time each spring. This is only available from their tasting rooms, so likely unless you’re passing through Michigan you may never encounter. If you are in one of their tasting rooms, I’d definitely ask for a sample before buying.

Rating: Probably Pass

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Pinhook Rye’d On

/ / Review, Rye Whiskey /

Pinhook Rye’d On
Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey

48.5% ABV
$40
Website
Pinhook Rye'd On

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.

Rating: Average

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Laws Whiskey House San Luis Valley Straight Rye Whiskey Bonded 6 Years

/ / Review, Rye Whiskey /

Laws Whiskey House Bonded 6 Years
San Luis Valley Straight Rye Whiskey

50% ABV
$75
Website
LAWS Whiskey House Straight Rye Whiskey Bonded 6 yr
We would like to thank Laws Whiskey House and RadCraft for sending us a sample to review.

What the Distillery Says

Laws Whiskey House is a grain-to-glass distillery in Denver, Colorado that applies a “there are no shortcuts” philosophy to each batch of whiskey produced. Each batch is milled, cooked, fermented, distilled, and aged on-site, utilizing heirloom grains from family-owned Colorado farms. The practice of open air, on-grain fermentation captures the essence of Colorado’s terroir while the copper pot-column still produces a robust, grain-forward style of whiskey.

This expression hails from the San Luis Valley rye grain of a single season, shaped by us as the single distiller, then aged in our federally-bonded rack house for over six years.  Starting in April 2020, Bonded SLV Rye will be available in 15 states throughout 2020.

Tasting Notes: Sweet grass with honey and brine on the nose, cooling notes of wild mint and fennel, followed by deeper accents of sea salt, orange tee, and brown sugar on the palate. Finishes with a rich and buttery mouth feel accompanied by tobacco notes.

Mash Bill: 95% heirloom rye; 5% heirloom malted barley (all grown in Colorado)

Aged over six years in new, 53 gal, charred oak barrels

What Gary Says

Nose:  Thick with lemongrass, mint, heather, bit of sea air, raw honey, touch of oak, hint of brown sugar and green tea ice cream.
Palate:  Rich and viscous (borderline syrupy) mouthfeel, orange marmalade on rye toast, vanilla, brown sugar, cinnamon, pepper spice, touch of mint, barley malt, and a hint of clove.
Finish:  Fairly long, wet, and thickly lingering with malty spice notes.
Comments:  This has one of the best mouthfeels on a rye that I can recall – really thick and rich; just coats the tongue. Not as sharp on the palate for a high rye mashbill as you might expect, and the barley seems to have more of an influence than I’d expect.  I get a lot more malty notes.  In fact, if tasting blind, I might have thought this was an interesting blend of straight rye whiskey with a single malt scotch.  All that aside, this is just a delicious whiskey – and a very nice bottle too; quite hefty.

Rating: Must Try

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