Thursday, July 18, 2013

Rye Influx - Spring 2013

Back in March I posted about some tastings in preparation to our April pilgrimage to Kentucky.  We added a rye whiskey to our selections and we had anticipation of tasting and buying some good rye whiskey.

Back on June 5th, the first of our barrels picks showed up; Jefferson Rye 10 year. I was pretty excited to get this bottle as I don't have many ryes in the bunker so this was a nice addition.

First, it's a little odd that the packaging for the Jeff Rye shows a silhouette of Jefferson, a great American icon...but in the bottle is good 'ole Canadian Rye.  Who cares.....what's it taste like?

First off, lots of flavor for a 94 proof whiskey.  Christmas spices, sweet rye, and maybe a touch of mint.  Nice mouthfeel....not overly coating but enough body to carry the finish quite nicely.  This rye is right in my wheelhouse; it's an easy drinker with lots of flavor.  Now I wish I had asked for a higher allocation cause the bottle I have open is about 2/3 gone with three remaining in the bunker.

I'm expecting our Old Weller Antique picks to arrive early next week. 

4 comments:

  1. Gary said ...
    I'm a big fan of the Jefferson's 10 yr Rye. To your point - who cares where it is made or what the packaging looks like. How do you think it compares to Whistlepig 10 yr rye (which in Atlanta runs about twice the price)? If I had $80, I'd pick up two of these over 1 Whistlepig every time (but everyone's palate differs!)

    I hear the selections from that 1789b are pretty decent too ;-)

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    1. Gary - the value proposition of some of these whiskies leaves me scratching my head. As you said, the WP10yr is high dollar and I'm not sure why. The Jeff is a solid pour and Trey is obviously sourcing good Canadian rye. I can't offer any comments on the Whistlepig as I've not had it due to the high price, as you pointed out.

      And yes...I think the 1789b selections are pretty darn tasty.

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  2. You never got around to posting about this year's OWA picks. I'm interested to see how you feel about them compared to previous years as the juice seems to be changing a little bit and age statements have gone by the wayside.

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    1. Steve - I know I'm late getting stuff posted. It's been an extremely busy summer and right now my days are 12-14 hours so blogging is on the back burner during the week. Now having said that, I did indeed get the OWA in....super tasty. I got the Four Roses in.....tasty again and the Willetts exited the bottling line today so expect to see those in the next month or so. Plus, I have some vintage bourbon, Scotch, Irish and Japanese whiskies making their way to me. So, while I'm busy, whiskey is still very much a part of my limited routine. I hope to post some stuff in the very near future.

      Thanks for checking in. Cheers.

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