Tastes

I like ryes a lot and this was very disappointing. Tasted extremely young and got more corn flavor than I was expecting. That being said, it did drink below its ABV.

So far I’ve yet to have anything from Maine I’ve liked. Way too young and I get a lot of what I assume to be chocolate malted barley but I haven’t gotten a look at the mashbill to know if that’s actually what it is

I will start off saying that this sips much lower than its ABV, most likely because of the high wheat. I got some charred out on the nose and it had a sweet palate but the finish is where this one truly shines for me. I think some of the other Old Fitz bottles are a better but I’m still glad to have this on my shelves.

My bottle was bottled on 9 Nov 2020 and is 132.1 proof. Overall I would say it is great but nothing about it blows me away. I’m a full proof and a rye guy and I don’t get a ton of the rye flavor at all, I would guess the mashbill is closer to 51% rye and not a lot more but who knows. It sips very easy especially for the proof and I do get a very slight banana note that I only get with Jack Daniel’s. I did also get some cinnamon notes on the nose but I guess I just expected more rye. It does drink way lower than its proof for sure though!

I’ve tried this one a few times out of a glencairn and felt lost every time as to what others were getting in every aspect. Every time I mostly got charred oak and spice with not much more. Tried it tonight in a rocks glass and it made all the difference, I can now see where the hype is coming from.

I’ve got to say this is a stellar pour but it better be given the price tag. That being said, I try my best to disassociate the costs of a bottle with the pour inside it when reviewing.I first tasted this one neat in a glencairn and then later added a few drops of water. I didn’t get much on the nose initially other than ethanol which I was disappointed with but it opened up nicely after a few drops of water and I got what to me smelled of a wine finished rye. I can only assume that was the Japanese liquor barrel coming through but I’ve never had it so I’m only guessing. The palate is where this one shined both with and without water. Exceptionally smooth, you’d never know it was 120 proof, and downright delicious. The rye spice was there but perfectly balanced with sweet notes. The finish didn’t blow me away to be honest. It was there and lengthy but didn’t add any other characteristics I did get from the nose or the palate. Overall a great pour and I’m glad I was lucky enough to try it at a reasonable cost.