MrWizard's Ramblings

Friend of mine keeps on telling me that I’m missing out by not trying rums. I shall indulge him. Foursquare rum distillery is fairly famous among the rum drinkers. I know nothing but feel free to read all about it via google… https://punchdrink.c … barbados-distillery/ and https://altamarbrand … uare-rum-distillery/… So with the disclaimer that I’m coming into this without having ANY palate for rums and will be judging it mostly compared to whiskey and scoring primarily how much I enjoy drinking it… Let’s get into it.

The info on the cask and age makeup is somewhat shamelessly copied from https://thefatrumpirate.com/, credit to him for the info and if you like rum reviews it seems to be the site to visit/bookmark. Give it a read.

Foursquare Sagacity, 48%
From quick sleuthing: “We have a blend of Pot and Coffey Column distilled rums aged for 12 years. A portion of the rum in this blend is aged for the full 12 years in ex-Bourbon casks the other in ex-Madeira casks.” The nose is very sugar caramel and bananas, quite as expected out of rum honestly. Little woody, spicy, bourbon baking spices but different sweetness profile, more sugar, less corn. Again as expected out of rum. Some red wine asserts itself but wine is more of a notable influence on the finish. Very slightly rough around the edges on the spice profile which pleasantly offset the sweetness. Enjoyable? Yes… Tropical? Yes. Tiny bit too bitter and could use some tropical fruit as a chaser? Yes. Would I drink at the beach? Sure. Would I buy a bottle? No. This is a good rum that tastes like a rum.
Score: ? B+ /RUM

Foursquare Empery 56%
This is a blend of Pot/Column distilled rum aged for 14 years in ex-bourbon casks and a portion of Pot Column distilled rum which was aged for 10 years in ex-bourbon casks and then matured for a further 4 years in ex-sherry casks. Sherry Sherry… baby! Surprisingly sherried notes in the nose. If I didn’t know better, I’d be willing to guess this being a grain whiskey as it lacks the malty notes for obvious reasons. Oh this I like! Little spicy but very sherried on the palate, nice sweet backbone through the whole experience. More sherry and a little bit of spice on the aftertaste. Very tiny bit metallic on some of the secondary flavors but it’s minor and fades after some time in the glass. Real good stuff. Very VERY drinkable.
Score: ? A- /RUM

Foursquare Exceptional Cask Series 2008, 60%
This happens to be a blend of Pot and Column distilled rum which has been blended and aged for the full 12 years of maturation in Barbados. Tropically Aged Rum. The barrels used in the ageing process they are 1st, 2nd and 3rd fill ex-Bourbon barrels. With this rum Foursquare also advise that there in no added colour, sugar, additives and its non chill filtered. The nose on this is great. I been smelling it all evening and I’m not getting tired of it. Sweet, spicy and quite delicious on the palate this reminds of a very strong grain whiskey or perhaps lighter bourbon variety with tropical fruits, some raspberry, and bourbon spice. Strong and quite viscous sugar streak goes though the experience. The aftertaste continues wonderfully from the palate. This is certainly not sherried compared to Empery above (ex bourbon maturation), but no less enjoyable. Surprisingly drinkable even at full proof.
Score: ? A /RUM

You know.. Foursquare rums ain’t so bad. I’ll not be chasing these down but I also shouldn’t scoff at rums either. There are plenty good ones if one knows where and what to look for.
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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown

I’ve participated in Glenglassaugh Distillery tasting the other day where we paired 4 different expressions from the distillery with some scottish baked goods from Scottish Tea Shoppe. Glenglassaugh itself got reasonably colorful history of being open/closed and open again. Feel free to read it on the Wiki: https://en.wikipedia … glassaugh_distillery. Since they were reopened in 2008 all the newer expressions from the distillery (aside from Single Casks) are NAS and are reasonably young.

Revival, 46%
Facts: Ex-Bourbon, Ex-Red Wine, Ex-Sherry Casks. ~ 7-8 years old in the current batch (this varies). Pairing: Seasalt Caramel
N: Fresh grapes, orchard fruit, some red wine and sherry notes. Orange oil.
P: Tannic spice, some sherry. wood. full body. Almost a little bitter.
A: More of the same from the palate, gently fading with malty flavors….
Thoughts: A little too bitter for me. Bitterness fades after a while but still a bit too rough and tannic from red wine.
Score: B-

Evolution, 50%
Facts: Ex-Tennessee Barrel. Pairing: Scottish tablet
N: Funky distillery note. Light tropical fruits. Pineapples.
P: Very full, buttery body… more of the light fruits from the nose. Reminds me slightly of chardonnay wine but in whiskey form.
A: Consistent with malty mouth-wrapping feeling of the palate.
Thoughts: A little too young and relying on inherent distillery profile to compensate for the age… Enjoyable, but somewhat on the thinner side of flavor while having a thick-ish mouth texture. Very much chardonnay with a kick.
Score: B

Torfa, 50%
Facts: Peated, Ex-Bourbon and Ex-Sherry. Pairing: Mint shortbread. Disclaimer: I do not like peat.
N: Medium salty peat. Not quite islay and not quite highland. Something in between.
P: This is middle of the pack peated whiskey. Roughly comparable to Lagavulin perhaps.
A: Fairly thin aftertaste with some slowly fading peat. Too young to carry interesting complex peat or aftertaste notes, but not too overwhelming to be bad. On the good side, the mouth texture mostly carries it. On the bad side… there’s not much interesting in there. I imagine peat fans will generally like it.
Thoughts: Can really benefit from a pairing on this one to amp up the buttery notes…. Trying it with the mint shortbread that assessment is 100% on-point. Butter and sugar brings to the spirit what it’s missing. Overall, it’s a peated scotch. It’s not winning many awards but it certainly isn’t a drain pour either. Basically, it’s peated evolution.
Score C (Peat!)

Single Cask, Hi-Times SP, 57.3%
Facts: Port Cask #685, Aged 9 years. Pairing: Dark chocolate fudge.
N: Dark and dry sherry-like, even though it’s port. Some wood and spice. Distillery character funk. Noticeable alcohol due to abv. Woody spice.
P: Sweet dessert on the palate. The proof is on the high side, but for the most part the palate can handle it with the reasonably-typical thick texture and malt backbone. The high proof is a little bit overwhelming though and it can really benefit from a bit of water. Some spice and bitterness is present but restrained, compared to the Revival levels.
A: Gently fading wood spices with some sweetness. Unfortunately, bitterness comes to dominate towards the end.
Thoughts: Proofing it down with a bit of water snaps pieces into place and makes it a much more enjoyable. The youth is shows in lack of prominent secondary flavors but what there is pretty solid.
Score: B+ (/w Water)

Overall:
I can see why distillery old stocks are quite sought after and won bunch of awards around 2010 when they reopened. I’m looking forward to what they’ll come up with in about 10 years or so as I believe this distillery got some solid potential, yet the current spirit is simply too young to be truly interesting. Aka: “Not too bad, kid. Come back when you’re few years older”.

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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you a special bulletin… A mystery tasting. A friend via SFWBSS group have mixed up their own version of a fancy bourbon/rye blend out of the following components and would like folks to evaluate his efforts. So I’ve got 6 samples… One of the blend, one is a mystery misdirection sample, and 4 are the components of the blend. My mission, which I have chosen to accept, is to review the samples and provide my own ratings. The sample bottles are numbered so I’ll be reviewing and guessing what they may be blindly, I’ll write the answers at the bottom once my review is finished and I will find out the results from the source. The samples, in no order are:

• George T. Stagg 2020, proof 130
• Blanton’s Straight From the Barrel, proof: 120-130
• Old Rip Van Winkle (Pappy 10) proof: 107
• Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye 13, proof 95.6
• The Blend of the 4 above, proof (given) ~116
• ??? Sample

Without trying to be apologetic, the samples aren’t that large and I’ll be trying to save a bit after the answers are revealed, so if I guess wildly wrong… Well, I’m blaming it on small sample size :).

Sample 1 (tasted first)
N: First thing that comes to mind with nose… is rye. Somewhat malty notes, with good chunk of eucalyptus and sandalwood.
P: Well balanced, not too sweet, surprisingly punchy on the alcohol without much to hide behind in there, yet not overwhelming on alcohol burn. Solid amount of wood spice and vanilla. Somewhat thin body.
A: More herbal eucalyptus notes, still not all that sweet, almost savoury-woody. Lasts for a very long time with wood notes lingering.
O: Little too woody without much body and sweetness to balance out those woody notes. Still quite delicious, especially in the aftertaste department, it’s not quite as sweet as I’d ideally wanted it to be. A note that this is different wood notes from say Old Ezra 7 but more of an aged wood furniture feeling rather than charcoal on the palate. While flavorful, the low proof (compared to others) is a suspect and likely the answer to what it may be
Score: B+ ; Guess: Van Winkle Rye 13

Sample 2 (tasted last)
N: Amazing nose… To me at least. Orchard fruits, with plums dominating. Wood and spices. Not too high on the alcohol though it is certainly felt. Tobacco and leather emerge after some time.
P: A bit of everything on the palate. Rye, eucalyptus, more plums, sugar, leather, burnt caramel. Almost borders on a mess, but a delicious mess it is. Layers and layers of flavor mostly work together, yet… perhaps too many flavors end up fighting with each other for dominance with no clear winner.
A: Amazing aftertaste that lasts and lasts with flavors galore… By far the best and longest-lasting of all tasted today. Oddly, reminds me of a better-balanced GTS ‘20 on the aftertaste which isn’t a bad thing at all.
Overall: By process of exclusion, this should be the final blend… But is it? I think it is… Assuming it is the blend… The amazing nose and phenomenal aftertaste are sadly let down by a somewhat unfocused palate that tries to do a little bit of everything and ends up being a master of none. For a blend of BT products this surprisingly does not taste like something out of BT stills. Purely on the palate, it’s likely a B+ material but the nose and the aftertaste push this into A-… I want to bottle that nose and especially the aftertaste, please, O.M.G!
Score A- ; Guess: The ‘Mister Steve’ Blend

Sample 3
N: Cologne. So much strong french classic cologne. Sandalwood and some cola. High alcohol. I can keep my nose in this one for quite a while… Until it’s singed by the alcohol.
P: Eucalyptus, cola, lots of wood, rye spices galore. Almost tannic and slightly overwhelming on the wood part. Really high proof.
A: The proof fades, leaving buckets of primary and secondary flavors. The aftertaste drop off is sudden and unfortunate.
Overall: Clearly a BT product this heavily reminds me of Stagg Jr 14 I have. I dislike being ‘certain’ in blind tasting, but I’m fairly sure that this is GTS ‘20. Reviewed here: https://www.aerin.or … y:entry201221-143911. I’ll be repeating the score. The minus on the grade is fairly large with this one as the flavor profile is delicious but not my favorite which makes it not quite the first thing I’d pick up to drink.
Score: A- ; Guess: George T. Stagg 2020

Sample 4
N: Spicy, woody. Cherry. Strong on the alcohol, but not overwhelming.
P: More stuff from the nose. Fantastically balanced. Very cherry and lots of wood. Suggestive of BT flavor profile.
A: Sweet, woody deliciousness. A fantastic aftertaste that gently fades after a while.
Overall: I like it. I like it a lot. It’s what I think good bourbon should taste like. One of the better exemplars of American whiskey I’ve had.
Score: A ; Guess: Old Rip Van Winkle

Sample 5
N: Woody with bit of everything on the nose. Reminds me somewhat of SAOS/MGP Plumpjack Pick smell.
P: Oh this is 100% MGP palate. Spicy, sweet, fresh. Woody. Great stuff.
A: Same as palate above, gently fading for a while.
Overall: I’ve reviewed Plumpjack SAOS here: https://www.aerin.or … y:entry200729-002755 and it’s arguably closest to it overall. With abundance of other SAOS bottles out there and perhaps knowing the tongue-in-cheek character of the provider of the samples; it could be SFWBSS SAOS pick or any number of others. IMHO… The provider of the samples should have stuck with BT theme to confuse the heck out of the guinea pigs tasters rather than provide an obvious giveaway… Nonetheless, I’m grateful for a delicious sample.
Score A- ; Guess: SAOS 5 year old MGP pick

Sample 6
N: Woody, cola, cologne again. Strongly suggesting BT product. Not too potent on alcohol burn yet still flexing its muscle. Solid amounts of… rye spice on the nose.
P: Very strong on alcohol. Yet, this still reminds me of Blanton’s if it was dialed to 11. Sweet vanilla fire basically… Some wood appears with time and balances it out decently well. Sweet vanilla BT fire suggest mash bill #2
A: Delicious and very classically BT aftertaste once alcohol fades a bit. This is palate-singeing initially, suggesting ~130 proof without much body to support it before it calms down.
Overall: I had to cut it with a few drops of water to make it not as fiery and it went full on delicious on me. Still, the balance is slightly off and I liked sample 4 more which is similar profile but waaay better balanced.
Score: B+ ; Guess: Blanton’s Straight From the Barrel

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Nothing above this line will be changed, except to correct typos or grammar.
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I was asked for tie-breaker ranking based on the blind results so…
In order of drinking preference: 4 > 3 > 2 > 5 > 1 > 6 though the differences in like/dislike are minor.

Answers vs Guesses:

1. 2020 Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye — Guessed Correctly
2. 2019 Bourye, 92 proof — Guessed Incorrectly
3. Mister Steve Blend — Guessed Incorrectly
4. 2020 Old Rip Van Winkle (Pappy 10) — Guessed Correctly
5. Blanton’s Straight From the Barrel — Guessed Incorrectly (WHAT?!)
6. 2020 George T. Stagg — Guessed Incorrectly

Re-tasting after knowing what each sample is…

1: 2020 VWFR Rye
Notes are consistent… Tasty and surprisingly active on the palate despite the proof. Too woody and not that interesting for a bottle but totally get a taste to check box it off…
Re-score: B+

2: 2019 Bourye, 92 proof
Does smell like a rye mixed with bourbon, which is why I thought it was the mystery blend. With the rye component not too sweet this could have been it. Other that it doesn’t taste like a BT product. Palate is a mess of flavors, not terrible by any means, but without direction it ends up unfocused. Man, that aftertaste is so good though. I think the giveaway here is the lower proof. Oh well. Still, I don’t mind drinking it.
Re-score: B+

3: Mister Steve
I’ll be frank… This is what GTS should taste like IMHO. Except it doesn’t… At least 2020 GTS doesn’t, but I not tried others. Perhaps 2019 with lower proof. The proof should have been a giveaway when compared to 130 proof monsters but I gave too much credit to my own resistance to high proofers and quality of the booze. Fantastic nose which is non-surprising due to rye and wheater. The palate is spicy mess sadly with what almost feels like MGP spice. Which in retrospect is coming from Blanton’s. It does taste higher proof than it is. Still really good and I prefer it to the #6 (GTS) while doing a side-by-side comparison.
Re-Score: A-

4: 2020 ORVW
Woody deliciousness on the nose but quite… subtle and almost gentle. Clearly a lower proof than the monsters… This is a fantastic pour. Cohesive, tasty and just overall great; this is the whole package.
Re-Score: A

5: Blanton’s SFTB
Very cherry on the nose. Totally not what I got out of it on initial pass. The palate is still a hot mess reminiscent of SAOS bottlings. The aftertaste redeems itself after the palate. I still like it, but it really is closer to MGP than to BT product. I’ve been told that this is one of the spicier Blanton barrels they had and that ’single cask disclaimer’ applies here, which makes sense…
Score: B+

6: 2020 GTS
Spun sugar and more sugar. For the interests of science dropped the proof on this a little bit with water. Nose is much less interesting that the #3 blend (of course due to rye influence). Concentrated woody, spicy dark caramels. Too woody and a little bit tannic for my tastes… I touched on this before… Don’t buy whole bottle… It’s good but it’s also too much. At the secondary pricing you’ll be disappointed. Nose the most outstanding quality here, with the rest is not being too exceptional.
Re-Score: B+

Re-shuffled preference order… Doesn’t count for overall ratings.
4 > 3 > 1 > 5 > 2 > 6

Reposting some of the text from the benefactor:

I put together 6 sets which each had 6 blind samples. Included was my Mister Steve blend and each of the individual components: Van Winkle Family Reserve 13yr Rye, George T Stagg, Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel, Old Rip Van Winkle 10yr. I also added in a unknown mystery blind to help throw people off when trying to ID or guess them. The outlier blind was the 2019 Bourye which I chose to add another lower proof whiskey to match the VWFR rye and also to get more rye in the mix.
I asked everyone who got the set to give me a ranking. Notes or scores weren’t required, but many included those. My goal was to find out what others thought of the blend stacked up against some tough competition, and ultimately learn if the blend was better than the individual components.

After getting everyone’s rankings back, I averaged the ranks across everyone and it was:
1. ORVW
2. Mister Steve
3. Blantons SFTB
4. Bourye
5. GTS
6. VWFR Rye
Very surprised to see this, but a few notes here. Mister Steve was mostly 2nd or 3rd. It never won, but never did poorly. ORVW was consistently a top finisher and was a clear cut number 1. VWFR Rye made One Person’s number 1 but everyone else had it ranked 4th or 5th. GTS was very surprising coming in so low, it was middle of the pack for some and dead last for several. The 2019 Bourye was a great pour, but I expected it to get killed here up against this competition. Very cool seeing it hold its own.

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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown

All reviews below are from nice scotch samples I’ve accumulated over last 8 months or so.

Glenlivet 21 (Archive), 43%
A batched Glenlivet with youngest in the mix being 21 years old. The combination of casks types and age of the components is hush-hush, and likely changes slightly batch to batch to have some consistency. Nose is just… amazing. Malt and sherry, caramel, apples and vanilla oak, a fruit compote. Smooth as silk on the nose. The mouth is velvety, with sherry quite prominent, dark fruits, oak/wood, slightly tannic or leathery and perfectly balanced. Aftertaste is gorgeous and fades real slow from the palate high notes lasting for quite a while. Certainly a whiskey meant for sipping, this is an excellent representation what a masterful blending can do with good supply of distillery stocks. This is glorious, great, fantastic, etc. The only real downside here is the price and just a few abv lower than ideal. I’ve been a fan of Glenlivet for quite a while and continue to be one. While not everything that comes off their stills is amazing, their 21 year old expression is a good reminder of an excellence they can produce.
Score: A-

Deanston 20, Oloroso, 55.5%
I’ve covered Deanston Virgin Oak in my @work series before, noting that it’s a workable daily drinker, if somewhat boring (here: https://www.aerin.or … y:entry191203-083204). I have a 20 year old Oloroso wood monster at much higher proof than the humble Virgin Oak. A small and amusing side-note: this happens to be one of my first samples that I’ve got via meeting folks in SFWBSS in early summer of 2020. Nose is all funky sweet sherry with a solidly spicy backbone. Over time, nose becomes extremely perfume-forward in a good way. Since this is Oloroso, it leans slightly towards varnish and leather spices, but this time in a pleasant way that doesn’t overwhelm. The palate is full of creamy textures sweetness and nutiness. Caramel pine nuts perhaps, that border on being almost too sweet. Vanilla wood notes galore this has a good chunk of wood influence that integrate well with the rest of the palate. Aftertaste lasts a while, quite spicy once initial sweetness balances itself out with spicy ginger tingle in the very back. With time in a glass, this becomes spicier with pepper and opens up into a somewhat different and complex experience. This is certainly up there in the dessert whiskey land initially, but becomes more complex over time and repeated sips, making it a fantastic experience that isn’t a one trick pony. That being said, I feel like it does become too peppery over time to be truly an experience, but if you enjoy caramel, vanilla, nuts and pepper mix this one is definitely up your alley. I really enjoyed it initially but once it went too spicy it became a bit of a struggle to get through the sips.
Score: A- to B

Glenmorangie Signet, 46%
Top of the line regular Glenmorangie bottling is here. I’m generally a big fan of their products, so I’ve got my hopes pretty high for this nearly $250/bottle. Nose is oily rich oloroso sherry with wood undertones, floral and honey notes in the secondary tones are all over in there. Quite amazing, I stuck my nose into the glass and just breathed for a solid minute without getting tired or overwhelmed by it. Palate, woody, sherried, delicious with honey-roasted walnuts coming in at the back. Strongly reminds me of my early impression of (Old bottling) of Glenmorangie 18 but… more pronounced. Aftertaste is more toasted nuts, bitter cocoa and tobacco, wood and maltiness. Not too sweet, the balance is quite perfect on this one. There’s also a fairly solidly pronounced spice thread through the tasting experience which integrates perfectly with each stage. There’s a bit of a roasted coffee note to this too, so perhaps something like vanilla mocca coffee? This is one of the rare bottlings that I’d be happy to be stuck on a desert island with. Layers and layers of different flavors without any of them overwhelming the other yet allowing for a slightly different, yet always great, experience in every sip.
Score: A

Glentauchers 2008, Exclusive Malts. 57.9%
A 8 year old sherry bomb? I like the sound of that! Nearly 60% abv young bottle? This one may also be rough at full proof. Nose is dark honey and fruits, some burnt sugar and all that highly concentrated. Definite sherry bomb on the palate that overwhelms with primary sherry flavors and some malt but not quite offering too much wood or high age flavors as is expected out of young malt. Intensely sweet with a bit of earthy tannins. The aftertaste is intense honeycomb, more sherry and finally bits of wood. As with many sherry bombs I like it as it fits into my style of drink… But it should be noted that while this is intensely sherried, there’s not much substance to it underneath. Really sweet, dessert-like and a little drying, this is a winter holiday in a glass. Reminds me of a sherry Kavalan, but perhaps not as concentrated on the secondary palate as full proof Kavalan is.
Later update: This is great. Yes it’s fortified cherry but when Kavalan is situational this is great anytime.
Score: A-

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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown

Catoctin Creek Rye, D&M SP, 56.9%
Something certainly unique… A 100% Virginia Rye mash bill, aged for one year in a 30 gallon barrel then finished for 7 months in a Cabernet cask. Bottled at full proof as store pick… A little red-winey and very spicy, Sandalwood, cherries, red fruits, cloves and baking spices, reasonably alcohol-forward. The palate is fiery with alcohol and super spicy. It really hits hard with the baking spice, that is thankfully followed and augmented by the red wine fruits. The aftertaste is nice and long with spices and Cabernet influence mixing together. With water, it becomes a much smoother, drinkable, and enjoyable experience. This is going to be amazing mix for manhattans as the spice, alcohol and palate line up perfectly with manhattan profile. Adding water makes it really tasty, undiluted this is… too much. Just want to mention that essentially for a year and a half old whiskey… I wouldn’t have ever guessed that this is a young drink. Yes, it’s not super complex but that is mostly masked by the Cabernet finish. Definitely not worth its ~$100 MSRP, this certainly subverts expectations on required age for whiskey to acquire deep flavor. Just don’t have any specific expectations coming into this…
Mark covers this in depth: https://the-right-sp … l-select-rye-whisky/
Score: C+

Wright & Brown Rye, Batch 003, 45%
Previously covered here: https://www.aerin.or … y:entry191220-085943, but I figured I’ll re-visit with a more formal write-up. … You know what? I’m not going to bother with full write up. It’s a good whiskey. Spiced apricots and rye bread galore across the board, this is somewhere between bourbon and rye. Super flavorful even for its relatively low proof among full-flavored whiskeys. Enjoyable, highly drinkable, great for @work drinking as mentioned and would do fantastic in any rye drink.
Score: B

Mammoth Distilling Rye, 16 Prav Saraff Pick, 64%
Here we have a single barrel Canadian Rye, that spent 13 years in Canada and additional 3 years of aging in Michigan, totaling 16 years old. A single cask pick by Prav Saraff he seems to prefer woodier palate profiles. Lets try it… On the nose, cologne and wood, reasonably dry. The dryness continues on the palate, for being colored like dried grass this is very woody almost to the point of being slightly bitter at full proof. The alcohol is quite strong too with little to hide behind in terms of profile. Water opens it up quite a bit and scales the bitter notes back to make this reasonably pleasant, if still woody, malted rye profile with relevant sweetness and bread notes. Still on the lighter side of the rye spectrum for sure this doesn’t overwhelm anymore after some H2O. Don’t be afraid to add water to it… at full proof it’s not quite there but it is quite decent after being watered down. Not my favorite by any means, this is reasonably drinkable and enjoyable on the woody-light side of rye flavors, but perhaps still too bitter for some.
Score: C+

Smooth Ambler Old Scout 4 Year Old Indiana Rye, 58.9%
A SAOS single cask MPG rye from 2020… As with SAOS bourbon picks in 2020 these are going to be mostly on the spicy-lighter side of things. On the nose woody eucalyptus and rye bread notes with some alcohol coming through. The palate as expected, MGP spicy, woody and bready a little bit. After repeated sips the palate becomes slightly bitter with rye sweetness fighting with woody bitterness. At the same time, the wood isn’t actually that prominent aside from the primary palate notes. Aftertaste is a bit sour-bitter with more rye and woody flavors of medium length but fades pretty fast into secondary and tertiary pleasant aftertaste notes. Adding water and making it sit for a few minutes… The palate sweetness and bitterness snap into place with additional subtle and interesting rye flavors coming out. Water is yet again recommended as seems to be a case for a lot of higher proof ryes.
Score: B (/w water)

Thomas H. Handy Rye 2020, BTAC, 64.5%
A little treat to myself in a second BTAC sample I’ve ever had, and this time it is a rye. The nose is supremely deep, like walking through a forest or a bread bakery and among the best I’ve encountered. Lots of woody, earthy notes together with rye breadiness with some yeasty salinity… Anyways, nose is complex and I can spend a long time sniffing this. It doesn’t get better than this in bourbon/rye land. The palate is fiery, with cinnamon, light cherry, and wood dominating. Amazing aftertaste that cascades down for a long time into sweet caramel, nutty, woody, warm deliciousness. With a tiny bit of water to tone down the fire… It is now an overwhelming and reasonably balanced flavor bomb. Almost approaching Beam stuff on the cinnamon side of things this is … delicious overall, although slightly too woody for me. Right on the edge of perfect marks this is just a smidge off perfection. Interestly enough, tasted blind, it’s really hard to call this out as a rye as it tastes more like a high rye bourbon instead… If you have a chance to taste or buy a bottle of it at any reasonable price it is totally worth it. On the secondary pricing, as is the case with every BTAC, it is a non-starter at anything above $300 or so. Flavor intensity and depth are top-tier but there’s only so much performance that can be had out of a single bottle. BTAC bottles’ secondary prices are primarily for the prestige of having them rather than the actual value.
Score: A- (At any reasonable price)
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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown