I’ll enjoy a glass of something nice every other night late at night, but I rarely do flights at home for comparison’s sake.  My recent buying binge has caused my collection of whiskies to bulge a little bit, so tonight I decided to taste my rye whiskies side by side.  If Mugatu enjoyed whiskey, he’d be saying “It’s that damn rye whiskey!  It’s so hot right now!” High West Rendezvous Rye (46% ABV): David Perkins from High West in Utah was just voted the Pioneer of the Year by the folks at Malt Advocate.  Big ups.  In case you’re not from the streets, that means “lots of props”.  High West has gotten some flack for essentially being a blender of American whiskies, as opposed to distilling their own spirits.  This particular rye is a blend of a 6-year-old 95% rye and a 16-year-old 80% rye.  I don’t see where all the hate is coming from — the Scots have been blending whiskies for 100+ years.  I don’t see criticism for Compass Box or Johnnie Walker.  I’m sure when High West comes out with their own whiskies, they’ll be really good as well. My tasting notes: Some water calms down the initial alcohol burn significantly and I get a lot of sweet honey and sweet corn notes on the palate.  Some light vanilla on the nose.  I’m betting the older rye has a lot of corn on the mash bill.  Short finish, not horribly complex.  I like a little bit more boldness and kick from my ryes. Bulleit Rye (45% ABV): I busted this open at my last Boy’s Night Out and I remember being underwhelmed, so I definitely wanted to go back and give it another go.  Bulleit introduced this as their 2nd product back in March and it generated some buzz in the industry.  This one is made from 95% rye and 5% malted barley.  The Bourbon Review has a great article about the Bulleit Rye launch here. One of the reasons this rye has me puzzled is the fact that it’s so smooth.  Bulleit likes to refer to their products as ‘Frontier Whiskey’, claiming that their recipes hark back to the wild, wild west.  This implies to me that they should be bold and a little rough-around-the-edges, but in a good way.  Out of the bottle, I don’t get the rye kick unless I hold the whiskey in my mouth for 15+ seconds.  Even after adding some water, it still remains on the tame side for me. Rittenhouse Rye 100 Proof Bottled in Bond:  I got this whiskey at the end of March and I find myself going back to it time and time again.  What a great buy for $20.  I’m loving that it’s 100 proof, it packs a punch, but it’s interesting too.  You can take a sip and then just sit there and ‘observe’ all the different things that go on in your mouth.  For me, it develops really slowly, as the rye spices crawl around my tongue and leaves some sweet notes (molasses?).   What does “bottled in bond” mean?  It means that the whiskey has to be the product of one distillation season and one distiller at one distillery.  Then it has to be stored in a federally-bonded warehouse under US government supervision for 4+ years and bottled at 100 proof.  In the late 19th century, some whiskey makers were adding iodine, tobacco and other substances into straight whiskey to save money, so much so that consumers didn’t know if they were going to get a good product.  Therefore, a whiskey that was bottled in bond under US government supervision signaled to consumers that the product was kosher. Old Potrero 18th Century Whiskey (63.64% ABV):  63.64%?  Couldn’t round up on that one?  Who regulates decimal point usage in the spirits industry?  Anyways, according to the label, this whiskey is “pot distilled from 100% rye malt mash and aged 2 years 5 months in new uncharred oak barrels,” and it’s bottled at barrel strength.  The nose reminds me very much of new make whisky that you would take right off the still.  It’s not quite as harsh as I’d expect given the proof, but you still want to sniff cautiously.  A tiny sip let’s me know that this is fiery creature — you definitely want to dilute this one down, at least to 40-50%. Even with some water, this whiskey still has tons of kick: rye spice, pepper and alcohol.  It’s creamy on the palate and has a long, long finish.  Vanilla on the nose.  Some sweetness on the swallow. Verdict: The Rittenhouse is the rye I’ll reach for when I just want to relax and enjoy myself during the week.  It’s an every-day rye, but one that you won’t tire of.  The Old Potrero is fabulous, but it’s the one I’ll go with when I want to challenge myself.  The Rendezvous Rye and the Bulleit Rye are less complex and more on the mellow side for me, but I’ll continue to go back to them once in a while to see how my assessments change. Cheers!

I’ll enjoy a glass of something nice every other night late at night, but I rarely do flights at home for comparison’s sake.  My recent buying binge has caused my collection of whiskies to bulge a little bit, so tonight I decided to taste my rye whiskies side by side.  If Mugatu enjoyed whiskey, he’d be saying “It’s that damn rye whiskey!  It’s so hot right now!”

High West Rendezvous Rye (46% ABV): David Perkins from High West in Utah was just voted the Pioneer of the Year by the folks at Malt Advocate.  Big ups.  In case you’re not from the streets, that means “lots of props”.  High West has gotten some flack for essentially being a blender of American whiskies, as opposed to distilling their own spirits.  This particular rye is a blend of a 6-year-old 95% rye and a 16-year-old 80% rye.  I don’t see where all the hate is coming from — the Scots have been blending whiskies for 100+ years.  I don’t see criticism for Compass Box or Johnnie Walker.  I’m sure when High West comes out with their own whiskies, they’ll be really good as well.

My tasting notes: Some water calms down the initial alcohol burn significantly and I get a lot of sweet honey and sweet corn notes on the palate.  Some light vanilla on the nose.  I’m betting the older rye has a lot of corn on the mash bill.  Short finish, not horribly complex.  I like a little bit more boldness and kick from my ryes.

Bulleit Rye (45% ABV): I busted this open at my last Boy’s Night Out and I remember being underwhelmed, so I definitely wanted to go back and give it another go.  Bulleit introduced this as their 2nd product back in March and it generated some buzz in the industry.  This one is made from 95% rye and 5% malted barley.  The Bourbon Review has a great article about the Bulleit Rye launch here.

One of the reasons this rye has me puzzled is the fact that it’s so smooth.  Bulleit likes to refer to their products as ‘Frontier Whiskey’, claiming that their recipes hark back to the wild, wild west.  This implies to me that they should be bold and a little rough-around-the-edges, but in a good way.  Out of the bottle, I don’t get the rye kick unless I hold the whiskey in my mouth for 15+ seconds.  Even after adding some water, it still remains on the tame side for me.

Rittenhouse Rye 100 Proof Bottled in Bond:  I got this whiskey at the end of March and I find myself going back to it time and time again.  What a great buy for $20.  I’m loving that it’s 100 proof, it packs a punch, but it’s interesting too.  You can take a sip and then just sit there and ‘observe’ all the different things that go on in your mouth.  For me, it develops really slowly, as the rye spices crawl around my tongue and leaves some sweet notes (molasses?).  

What does “bottled in bond” mean?  It means that the whiskey has to be the product of one distillation season and one distiller at one distillery.  Then it has to be stored in a federally-bonded warehouse under US government supervision for 4+ years and bottled at 100 proof.  In the late 19th century, some whiskey makers were adding iodine, tobacco and other substances into straight whiskey to save money, so much so that consumers didn’t know if they were going to get a good product.  Therefore, a whiskey that was bottled in bond under US government supervision signaled to consumers that the product was kosher.

Old Potrero 18th Century Whiskey (63.64% ABV):  63.64%?  Couldn’t round up on that one?  Who regulates decimal point usage in the spirits industry?  Anyways, according to the label, this whiskey is “pot distilled from 100% rye malt mash and aged 2 years 5 months in new uncharred oak barrels,” and it’s bottled at barrel strength.  The nose reminds me very much of new make whisky that you would take right off the still.  It’s not quite as harsh as I’d expect given the proof, but you still want to sniff cautiously.  A tiny sip let’s me know that this is fiery creature — you definitely want to dilute this one down, at least to 40-50%.

Even with some water, this whiskey still has tons of kick: rye spice, pepper and alcohol.  It’s creamy on the palate and has a long, long finish.  Vanilla on the nose.  Some sweetness on the swallow.

Verdict: The Rittenhouse is the rye I’ll reach for when I just want to relax and enjoy myself during the week.  It’s an every-day rye, but one that you won’t tire of.  The Old Potrero is fabulous, but it’s the one I’ll go with when I want to challenge myself.  The Rendezvous Rye and the Bulleit Rye are less complex and more on the mellow side for me, but I’ll continue to go back to them once in a while to see how my assessments change.

Cheers!

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