Review 179: Rittenhouse Rye

Review 179

9/21/13

Rittenhouse Rye: 50% abv

Background: Rittenhouse is a rye whiskey distilled by Heaven Hill distillery. This rye whiskey is made in the traditional Pennsylvania style of rye whiskey. We are still in the process of understanding what that means, but now you know it is in that style. Rye whiskies are made from a mash of 51% rye grain, and the other 49% can be a mixture of other grain types. Although Rittenhouse doesn’t have a great amount of information regarding it, it is known to be quite an eccentric rye, and it is bottled at bond at 50% abv. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough time to dig deeper into the details, but I will review it for you!

Straight

Nose: This rye whiskey starts off with a heavy nose, with nice grainy overtones and some immediate ginger coming through. This very unique nose displays aromas of cocoa and dark chocolate brownies, some cedar and oak coming through. There is a hint of wood polish in the nose, with rich corn and rye aromas. Vanilla, oolong tea, and honey come at the top of the glass, with cloves, cinnamon and molasses in the backdrop. There is a slight dry apple smell in the top of the glass as well.

Arrival: The arrival is intense and bold. It is certainly not holding any punches. There is a spicy character up front, with hot cinnamon and allspice coming up strong. There is vanilla, barley, oak, and saltiness noticed right up front. Some milk chocolate is present here as well. There is some mint late in the arrival. There is a taste that very much resembles the smell of wood polish in the arrival as well, which is hard to articulate, but I just tried.

Body: Along with the mint carrying over from the arrival, there is a subtle chocolate character that goes along with it. The body is equally spicy and salty, with a subtle grape-like fruitiness. The body is substantially woody, with no shortage of rye character. The body is probably the spiciest event in the whisky. 

           

Finish: The finish is intensely salty, with a hot character. There is some oak that comes through in the finish, with vanilla, coffee beans, and chocolate. It is hot and spicy all the way through, which helps add to the intensity of the rye character. There is a taste that resembles artificial sweetness, sort of like a jolly rancher (I know it’s obscure). It is also oddly malty in the end as well.

With Water

Nose: After adding quite a bit of water (to settle down this beast), the nose becomes more grain forward. There is more soft oak up front, with banana coming through as well. There is a bit of spice still, but it isn’t nearly as intense as it was before. There is a bigger presence of wheat now, which attributes to a softer, creamier nose. Also, an unfamiliar straw-like character is involved here.

Arrival: With vanilla, cream, and slightly soft grain character in the arrival, there is much less intensity up front. The arrival has an interesting fruity sweetness to it as well. This is much different than before. It almost reminds us of melons and berries.

Body: The body retains the sweetness, the fruitiness, and the soft grain flavors as well. The body is still spicy, but keeps the vanilla and creamy notes strong. There is subtle citrus and even some molasses that comes out more, now that the alcohol has died down more.

           

Finish: The finish is still the most intense, but has shortened up a bit. The artificial sweetness is much more dominant here, with some molasses and a lot of grain coming through. The balance is a little different, with a little more coffee coming through as well. There is a complex blend of new fruit notes that is more dominant here. There is even some black pepper becomes noticeable after water.

Final Comments: Rittenhouse is a pretty eventful whiskey. We hear that the 25 Year Old is quite a brute itself. This is not what I would call a casual sipper. Rye whiskies tend to be a little bit more overbearing than your bourbons, but this was definitely turned up to 11. The flavor is intense and relentless, and I would not recommend this to a novice. Rittenhouse is a whiskey I love to drink one night and hate to drink another. Without a shadow of a doubt, it is worth trying more than once. It is complex, and more than anything, a unique whiskey to try. If you can find it at a bar, try it there first.

 

Why you’d buy it: You are the adventurous type.

Why you wouldn’t: You are stuck with Jim Beam.

Score: 8.75/10

Review 166: Jim Beam Rye

Review 166

6/18/13

Jim Beam Rye Whiskey: 40% abv

Background: Jim Beam is obviously a big player in the world of bourbon, and if you are taking Jack Daniels out of the equation, they are the biggest. Rye Whiskey, as we may or may not have stated in the past, is in the stages of resurgence after its staggering loss of popularity post prohibition. Bourbon gained more traction because of its sweeter, more pleasant flavor, whereas the intense, spicy nature of rye quickly fell out of favor from the general public. It looks like the public has grown a pair again, and since the big guys have caught wind of it, they are jumping on the bandwagon. It isn’t as if Jim Beam Rye has been put on the shelves yesterday, so it probably seems like it has always been there, but on the cosmological scale of whiskey, this is a coming back in the Rye world. The question becomes, does Jim Beam do this well, or should we keep walking past the now-iconic bottle to something less recognizable.

Straight

Nose:  Right off the bat, you get a burning intensity from rye whiskey that could arguably be much less pleasant than bourbon, but don’t let that deter you on. Smell on. Once you get past the initial intensity, you will find a little more rye grain coming through to add. You will get some vanilla and anise coming into the nose after the whiskey starts to open up. There is a modest hint of caramel that layers over the aromas. There is an interesting sense of creamy, fruity notes coming through, akin to bananas and light yellow apples and other tropical notes. There is a sense of spiciness coming through, but it is pretty ambiguous and light.

Arrival: The arrival to this Rye whiskey, is surprisingly creamy, with some banana from the nose coming into the arrival. This is complimented by a sweet corn smoothness. There is some rye and malt grain coming through, with big vanilla flavor. There is also a slight oakiness. The flavor is surprisingly mild in the arrival, and does not to elude to a very dynamic body or finish.

Body:  There is a buttery, vanilla, and oak flavor coming through in the body. It is actually rather sweet, and non-obtrusive. The rye character is pretty light, and doesn’t really present the full intensity of what a rye whiskey can be. Surprisingly, there is more of a corn-flavor dominance coming through in the body, than the rye character.

           

Finish: The finish is probably the most intense part of the whiskey, imparting a peppery, rye, character to the whiskey, with a light brininess counterbalancing the peppery nature. There is a corn flavor that comes through. There is a minty character that works into the end as well. The finish is still not very dynamic, and although the whiskey has flavor that is enjoyable, it is pretty non-complex. There is some sweet fruitiness coming through later in the finish, but it fades down rather quickly.  Fruit flavors might include berries and golden apples, but it was hard to pick out. The finish isn’t terribly long, nor is it terribly short.

With Water

Nose: Well, as per last time, the grainy intensity comes to the forefront. The nose is pretty similar after adding water. The creaminess is still there, if not amplified from before. With that being said, there is no major transformation to the aromas coming out of here.

Arrival: Well, the arrival is certainly a mellow experience here, with almost nothing happening without swishing the rye around in your mouth. A blanket taste of vanilla starts off, but as you let the whiskey sit, an intense spiciness creeps into the picture. This lives through the body and finish as well.

Body: The body translates some of that spiciness into gingerbread and cinnamon flavors, but carries over the general feel from before. Some of that banana and cream type flavor that was seen before is now just as lively as before water was added.

           

Finish: The finish, disappointing, becomes much duller after some water is added to the equation. Unfortunately, due to the fact that this whiskey sits at 40% abv, there isn’t a whole lot of room for growth. That does detract, and it should come as no surprise that the results of adding water can be a little bit deterrent from the already meek flavor.

Final Comments:  This is, in fact, a whiskey worth buying. Now, that does not mean it is terribly complex, nor does it mean it bears semblance to the classic rye whiskey. This takes on a contemporary approach to the rye flavor, with a little modesty. This sits comfortably close to the Jim Beam bourbon, probably by design. I think we would see this rye come to life if only they didn’t cut it down nearly as much. At 46%, this would be a great buy, albeit the rye content is probably awfully close to 51%. We would venture a guess that much sweeter grains were used in this mash, and it takes away some of the influence of the whiskey. We’d also conjecture that this would do better with another two years in the barrel. At the end of the day, you won’t go home crying if you buy this whiskey, but you might consider some others before pulling the trigger. Hopefully, we will be helping with that in the future.

Why you’d buy it: You want a soft introduction into rye whiskeys on a budget.

Why you wouldn’t: You really already know about the world of rye out there, and know there are better gems to be found.

Score: 7.25/10

KCM Onsite Report #2: Journeyman Distillery Tasting

KCM Onsite Report #2

4/19/13

Tiffany’s Wine and Spirit Shoppe/Journeyman Distillery

Overview: You might say that KCM hasn’t done a great job of talking about the Michigan distillation scene, and you’d be right. We are rectifying that, starting today, with some onsite reports of distilleries, tasting, and shops and stores where you can find good stuff. Over the summer, we hope to build on these and visit some different places. Today though, we’re going to do a hybrid and talk about Journeyman distillery AND about a place called Tiffany’s. Let’s start with the distillery.

Journeyman: Journeyman Distillery is a new business, not more than two years old, coming out of Three Oaks, MI. Three Oaks is so south-western, it may as well be Indiana. Journeyman, as we’ve said, is a pretty young distillery and they’re still learning some very valuable childhood lessons, but that hasn’t stopped them from jumping into the market with tenacity and vision. They currently have two column stills, one of which is a brand new addition to a second facility, and are aging their spirits in a variety of barrels, including some bigger barrels that they are looking to hold onto for a couple of decades. They have acquired some popularity in the surrounding area, and we hope to help them on their journey (no pun intended there) to success. One thing Journeyman is doing right is experimenting, with ideas like oak-aged gin and cabernet barrel-aged whiskey. So we attended a tasting at Tiffany’s and we’re going to report our finding on a number of their spirits, albeit it will be a general summary, not the detail we generally produce.

Ravenwood Rye: 45% abv

We started with the rye whiskey they produced, naturally being produced in column stills. The rye content in the mash is 60% and the other 40% is all wheat content, which will typically offset the harshness of rye whiskey. There was no mistaking this whiskey’s intentions, because one could easily taste the confused sweetness and underwhelming rye character in the flavor. There was a prominent honey, candied sugar, and vanilla content to this particular whiskey. There was ironically not much rye content to this whiskey, which made us a little disappointed. This is an easy drinking spirit, but it unfortunately didn’t taste like a rye whiskey should, and that’s why we buy rye whiskey.

Score: 7.25/10

Road’s End Rum: 45% abv

We decided to jump to the clear spirits. In particular, silver rum was next in line. We should mention that unaged rums generally don’t contain a large amount of complexity and are purely influenced by the molasses or sugarcane extract used in distillation. The spokesperson for Journeyman told me the rum was distilled with blackstrap molasses, and distilled by a Jamaican technique. The rum itself is pretty fresh and pure, with a mixture of sweet notes and slight bitterness, with a thick mouthfeel, and a very subtle spiciness in compliment. In all honesty, we were happy with this as a new make spirit, so we are excited what the benefits of aging does to this rum.

Score: 8.25/10

Bilberry Black Hearts Gin: 45% abv

You may notice that KCM hasn’t reviewed gin in our year of existence. Well that is partially because none of the panel is all that particular to gin, and partially because most of our stock lies in Scotch. Gin tends to be overpowered by the botanicals that are used for distillation; the primary ingredient of gin is typically juniper berries, which have very bitter and piny tasting characteristics to it. This gin is unique in that way, because, as the name implies, the star of the show is actually bilberry. Some of the ingredients include anise, coriander, lemon and cinnamon. This is not your typical gin then, with a complex list of balanced notes, not over-dominated by the typical pine qualities that gin has. This gin isn’t super dry, but it isn’t overtly sweet. It is a perfect start for what gin should be.

Score: 9.0/10

Barrel-Aged Bilberry Black Hearts Gin: 45% abv

Well now, here is where things get good. Something that has not been touched by a lot of distilleries is aged gin, and here we have some. And it really takes the best of both worlds, without a doubt. This helps the already well balanced gin get some complexity from the oak barrels, and really adds some dimension. It is my deepest hope that we see more things like this. I’d love to see more age to this gin and how it can change the spirit. This is not a mature spirit, and the addition of oak-induced flavors does not completely cover that, but it shows great potential for Journeyman to stand out for something incredible. You will find some vanilla notes, some spiciness, and a hint of herbal notes coming out in the gin. Highly recommended.

Score: 9.25/10

Buggy Whip Wheat: 45% abv

On the other end of the spectrum, this particular bottling represents a good experiment gone dull. We love the thought of new types of whiskey being bottled, and you do not see a lot of 100% wheat whiskies on the market, but maybe there is a good reason for that. This whiskey, although smooth and sweet, lacks complexity and is truly boring. You might, if you are a mixer or a rocks drinker, love that. We do not love that, and it is disappointing. This isn’t poorly made spirit, but it isn’t well made whiskey.

Score: 6.75

Featherbone Bourbon: 45% abv

We are going back and forth, I know, but honesty is our first priority. This bourbon produced some funny reactions at the tasting, where people exclaimed that the plastic cups were adding flavor to the bourbon and that it was spoiled. Folks, bourbon doesn’t really spoil like a glass of milk. In fact, the plastic tasting glasses were not off-setting the flavor. This is just a unique bourbon, and boy did we like it. At KCM, we have tried a number of bourbons, and few of them jump out as being truly away from the back. This particular one, with immense leathery notes, some nuttiness, big wood, and some tasting notes you would attribute with more mature whiskies, did more than just pose as a good entry into the American whiskey market. This whiskey showed that Journeyman can produce something different, although their range of whiskies might be a little under-developed in some areas.

Score: 9.0/10

Silver Cross Whiskey

Alright. Last one of the night. Well it is as I’m typing, and it was as I was drinking. This is an underlying message that hopefully Journeyman Distillery grabs onto. I don’t remember much about this whiskey, and I don’t care much about it. I remember it not being very distinctive, and although it had some small complexities to it, it was rather boring. We were not in the mind to rate this one.

Score: ?/10

Conclusion

At the beginning of this short novel, we told you Journeyman is a new distillery in the micro-distillery scene. This presents some challenges and makes it difficult to produce cheap quality spirits without going bankrupt. A new start up is akin to starting up a car company: lots of capital investment and not much return for years and years. Journeyman seems to be over this initial turbulence and charging ahead boldly with quality spirit production. For this reason, it is understandable for Journeyman to have their feelers out, trying to understand where they fit in the market. What we don’t want is for them to become a jack of all trades, master of none. It will be interesting to see how they evolve, but we as consumers should try to be patrons of businesses like these, who are working hard to make a name for themselves. KCM believes Journeyman Distillery is a worth investment and we should support the products that stand out.

~K

Review 100: Woodford Reserve Master's Collection New Cask Rye

Review 100
10/13/12
Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection New Cask Rye: 46.2% abv

Wow...that’s a mouthful. Can you imagine asking for that at the bar? You probably wouldn’t, because there is a 99% likelihood that they don’t have it. So this is it! It is KCM’s 100th review, and man what an exciting one it is. We worked hard not to review anything until we got the perfect thing for it, and it’s a two part series. This is a half of a two bottle set of rye whiskies, and so Review 101 will be of the other one, but I won’t go into the details of that until the next review. So...why are we doing this one? Well, it’s our first rye whiskey, and it’s a rather expensive and rare bottling. Woodford Reserve’s Master’s Collection is a series of craft whiskies that get released yearly around Christmas time. For example, in 2010 they had a Maple Wood Finished Bourbon that they produced (that we will also be reviewing sometime in the future), and in 2011 these Ryes. They are expensive, but having already tried the Bourbon once, I had good faith that this wouldn’t be a bomb. So here’s a little background on Rye whiskies, since this is our first one. Rye whiskey is almost exactly like Bourbon in the fact that it can only be aged in new charred white oak casks, and it has to be bottled between 40 and 80% abv. The difference is that while Bourbon has to made up of 51% corn, Rye has to be made of 51%...take a guess...rye!

So now let’s talk about the whiskey itself. If you’ve ever taken a big smell of a whiskey, you have probably leaned in and smelled, and then felt like your nose was on fire. The alcohol can be really off-putting, and at 46.2%, we expected similar things from this one, but to our surprise, it was not at all like this. The nose was balanced and tame, but not understated. It had a lot of complexities to it as it opened up. And open up it did. There is so much to this nose, I don’t know how to proceed. The nose was very spicy, with some mild sweet notes, but even moreso, there was a subtle floral, aromatic character to the nose. The aroma greets you with dark sweetness of brown sugar, honey, molasses, caramel, vanilla, and even a slightly buttery character. There is also a smooth, but powerful oakiness in the smell, followed by very diverse set of spices. Here was our best crack at trying to identify these spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, gingerbread, and light cloves all adorned the aroma of this rye. Even more unique, though, was the subtle banana and coconut smells that came out later on, when the rye opened up even further.

The arrival isn’t anything to write home about, and for that matter neither is the body of this rye. The arrival is definitely spicy, but quick and not very prominent. The body takes on a dry, almost tannin-y character. There is prominent cinnamon and nutmeg, with warm oak to please your mouth, and even some creamy and banana notes to it. After adding water, the body will start to open up and you’ll get some good grainy rye character to it, and more oakiness, as well as some definite salt. If you don’t like salt, you can drink this without water. The finish is pretty much what takes the cake with this. Not that the body isn’t good, but it doesn’t compare to the finish. The finish has so much to it, and after that whiskey goes down, you’ll spend time basking in the experience. Spiciness defines rye, and thus a Christmas spice collage is what you’ll get here, with strong nutmeg overpowering the cinnamon, but also gingerbread, allspice, cloves, and mint all mixed in there. The mint and cinnamon will be accentuated after a fair bit of water. There is an earthiness to the finish, and you’ll still get the darker, sweeter notes of vanilla, caramel, and oak. Interestingly though, a slight, dry piny bitterness comes through, as well as the butter that we smelled at the beginning. So that’s it.

Here are some closing notes for review 100; This rye is fantastic, and worth trying at least once. The nose and finish are great, and the finish sticks around for a while, but the body and arrival to the spirit is a little lacking in comparison. After water, the slight sweetness backs off on this one, and it adds to the spiciness and hotness, while still remaining smooth and enjoyable. If you are looking for a more mild experience by adding water, you’ll not be happy with the result, but it adds some different dimensions to the rye. A few of our reviewers said they preferred it without the water, while others were ambivalent. Either way, this is a wonderful expression of a craft whiskey and it’s well worth the time and money. We can’t wait to try the next one. 

Score: 9.25/10

Review 61: Maker's 46

Review 61

6/16/12

Maker's 46: 47% abv

No, it's not a typo. I know, it seems odd to call something "46" with a 47% abv to it. But the number actually has nothing to do with the alcohol content, so don't fret. Maker's Mark is an interesting company, because in the world of bourbon, they don't do a lot of whiskey making. They've had one consistent product for as long as they've existed: "Maker's Mark". So although this one has been on the shelves for a while now, it still has historical significance, being the newest, and only other iteration of Maker's on the market. Interestingly, what makes 46 different, and what gives it it's name is that wood staves are placed into the cask after the primary aging is done, and is finished like that. 46 is the name of the type of stave they used. So with that little background knowledge, onto tasting notes! 

On the nose, one will find pleasant aromas of cinnamon, light chocolate and fudge, vanilla, and allspice, with an extreme burn to it. With water, this burn will settle down, and caramel and even some floral notes with become evident. 

The taste is strong and complex, yielding, caramel, chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, allspice, apple, oak, ginger, oatmeal, apple, with some cajun flavor to it. After the addition of water, the flavors smooth out more, providing a nice spiciness with more oatmeal graininess and cinnamon and green apple. The finish burns a lot, but not just an alcohol burn, more of a hot cinnamon burn, retaining the apple and vanilla, keeping ginger, oatmeal, cajun, but adding in a slight wheat and maltiness. The finish is medium in length and full bodied. 

As a closing statement, this is a high alcohol bourbon, but is one of the best ones out there, displaying complexity, unique character, and spicy goodness. Maker's did a great job with this, and is recommended for any bourbon drinker. It is advised though, that if being drank straight, add a few teaspoons of water to allow more flavor to break out. 
Score: 9.0/10