Southern Star Double Rye Review

Southern Star
Double Rye
A Blend of Straight Rye Whiskeys
88 Proof
Batch 14
Southern Distilling Company
MSRP: $34.99 (Distillery Price)
Review

Please enjoy our Southern Star Double Rye Review! (from Southern Distilling Company)

From the distillery: Southern Star Double Rye is a Select Blend of two remarkable Straight Rye Whiskeys combined in perfect ratio and finished in premium Bourbon barrels creating a genuinely unique and balanced Rye Whiskey

Southern Distilling Company – The Distillers of Southern Star Double Rye

Southern Distilling Company sits on a 20 acre farm in Statesville, North Carolina, an epicenter of spirits production prior to Prohibition. In the late 1800’s, Statesville was home to many distilleries, blenders and wholesalers due to its excellent location at the crossroads of major wagon roads, as well as having a railroad depot. Statesville’s liquor boom ended with Prohibition, with the Southern Distilling Company being the first distillery to reopen in town since. We’ve visited a few times since then, and have watched them grow, and their whiskeys mature. They produce their own brands, mainly under the Southern Star label, and are also an active contract distiller.

Southern Star Double Rye – The Specifics

Southern Star Double Rye was first released back in April 2020. While we know that it is a blend of 2 rye whiskeys, the specifics are not provided for either rye. What we do know is that, according to the bottle label, both ryes were distilled by Southern Distilling Company. Likewise, the whiskey is presumably aged at least 4 years, as the bottle bears no age statement. This was apparently not the case with the earlier batches, however.

For example, a review from Drinkhacker from September 2022 states “[Southern Star Double Rye] is a blend of MGP-distilled 95/5 rye aged 2 years and Southern Distilling’s own 51% rye recipe made with local grains and also aged 2 years.” Since my bottle comes from the more recent release number 14 of this whiskey, this is evidently a completely different spirit. The age of the ryes has increased and the producer of the distillate has changed.

Purple Heart Homes

“Southern Distilling Company has been fortunate to partner with Purple Heart Homes – a national organization founded and headquartered in Statesville, NC, that helps create housing solutions for disabled and aging veterans. For every bottle of Southern Star Double Rye sold, all year round, 50% of our profits go to help our friends at Purple Heart Homes provide peace of mind and a higher quality of life to those who have served.” – Southern Distilling Company

Tasting Notes – Southern Star Double Rye Review

Let’s taste it:

🛏 Rested for 15 minutes in a Glencairn

👉🏻Nose: Brown sugar, vanilla, rye spices like cloves; cinnamon red hots (but not the really hot ones), background subtle sweet oak; hints of citrus such as limes; sweet apricots; fairly mild alcohol vapor
👉🏻Taste: Rye spices, citrus, cinnamon candy, brown sugar, hints of apricots, mild dry oak
👉🏻Finish: Black pepper; hot cinnamon; increasingly dry; mild dry oak and barrel char; fairly long; pleasant warmth.

The nose of Southern Distilling’s Southern Star Double Rye is initially fairly sweet, with brown sugar and subtle vanilla. Rye spices, such as cloves, with a touch of citrus, like limes, make themselves known fairly quickly. There’s also a pleasant overtone of those tiny red hot candies, but not the super hot ones. Some sweet oak and sweet apricots, like the ones that are about to get over-ripe, are in the background, as well. As my nose gets acclimated, there are also touches of sweet floral notes. The alcohol vapor is fairly mild.

The taste also starts off fairly sweet, with brown sugar and hints of those sweet apricots. The rye spices are there as well, becoming more noticeable after the first few sips, again with a bit of citrus, too. There’s also the cinnamon candy, with just a touch of dry oak. As time goes on, the finish becomes a bit spicy from black pepper and hot cinnamon, and some dryness develops with dry oak and mild barrel char. Those flavors linger into the fairly long finish, and I am left with a pleasant warmth.

Conclusion

Southern Star Double Rye from Southern Distilling Company is a very enjoyable whiskey. It has a bit more sweetness and brown sugar up front than the usual rye. That may be because of the time spent finishing in bourbon barrels, as well as the lower rye mash bill component. However, I am reminded quite quickly that this is indeed a rye, with the rapid appearance of rye spices and cinnamon candies, and later on, black pepper, as well. For 88 proof, this whiskey packs a lot of flavor, and a surprisingly long finish. If you’re looking for something different than the fairly common 95/5 rye, then you’ll want to give Southern Star Double Rye a try! Have you had this rye? What did you think? Cheers!🥃

We hope you have enjoyed our Southern Star Double Rye Review! (from Southern Distilling Company) It’s been a while since we visited Southern Distilling Company, but we do have a short video from a few years back. You can view it here: Virtual Video Tour of Southern Distilling Company. Or, read our Southern Star Paragon Bourbon Review.

Note: This bottle was graciously provided by the distillery for my review.

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