The Bardstown Bourbon Company has just released its Origin Series, the first whiskeys produced entirely in-house! The Origin Series Rye is aged for 5 years 8 months and finished in a “zebra” barrel of alternating toasted American oak and cherry wood staves. Read our review to find out what it’s like!
First, Wilderness Trail made some rye whiskey. After the barrels were dumped, maple syrup from Vermont aged in them. Then, after the syrup was dumped, the barrels were filled with 5 year old rye whiskey and aged another 6 months. An voila! We have Wilderness Trail’s first finished whiskey!! What’s it like? Read our Wilderness Trail Maple Barrel Finish Rye review and find out!
Ragtime Rye Applejack Barrel Finished pays homage to two early staple spirits of the Northeast, rye whiskey and applejack. There is no hiding the applejack flavors in this rye! Right from the start, I am greeted by apples in multiple forms. However, those flavors blend perfectly with the rye spiciness, both subduing and embracing it. The spice and a bit of a burn that come out in the finish remind me that this is indeed a 100 proof rye. A very apple-ey rye, but a rye for sure!
If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that I have been a huge Wilderness Trail Distillery fan ever since their first bourbon release. A couple of weeks ago I had posted about their new Small Batch Wheated Bourbon, and mentioned some of the changes they have going on, one of which is this new Bottled In Bond Small Batch Rye which is replacing their Single Barrel Barrel Proof Rye in their core whiskey line up.
This particular rye is to celebrate PawPaw, grandfather of current master distiller and owner Royce Neeley. PawPaw is also a distiller, and got his start “back in the day” in Eastern Kentucky. This rye was distilled and barreled on PawPaw’s 77th birthday and bottled and sold to celebrate his 79th birthday, this past May 16th, 2022. PawPaw’s Birthday barrel was sold in 750ml bottles; the regular release is also a single barrel and comes packaged in 375ml bottles also at barrel strength.
Jack Daniel’s Barrel Proof Rye is an excellent rye. There’s a warm fuzzy feeling that can’t be denied. How the fruit flavors linger through the very long finish and at this crazy high proof for a rye is just a mystery. But a mystery I have no desire to solve. Let’s just let Jack be Jack and enjoy what they give us. As they say, “…if you know Jack, you’ll know Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Rye.” Maybe one day we’ll get down there again and have a little of the mystery unveiled…or maybe not.
It seems like eons ago, but Old Forester introduced their first rye in 2019. It is a Kentucky rye, which generally has a much lower percentage of rye in the mash bill than the classic Indiana 95/5 rye that we all know and love. Often the rye content is very close to 51%, which is the legal minimum. Old Forester took a bit of a different approach, using a bit more rye, and then quite a bit of malted barley, giving its rye a unique character. Recently they released Old Forester Barrel Strength Rye.
This whiskey, The Untold Story Of Kentucky Whiskey from Castle & Key Distillery, is a special one. Released by Castle & Key Distillery in partnership with the Kentucky Black Bourbon Guild, it is dedicated to uncovering and telling stories from generations past. The series honors African American contributions to the distilling industry, contributions which are many but which have not been widely recognized or discussed. This whiskey is also a step towards the future as well. It was donated by Castle & Key and 100% of the proceeds will go to the Castle & Key Scholarship Fund. This release, Chapter 1, will be the first release of a series of annual “Chapters”, each telling part of the story, right on the bottle. Check out the photos to read it.
