Tastes

Tasting neat. Deep/dark rosy brown and good coating legs in the glass. The nose is rye toast with sesame seeds, maple syrup, and green sweet grass. On the palete, sweet agave and maple syrup, cherry, dried fruit, charred oak smoke, grassy mint and rye spice, cinnamon, and a whiff of ethanol in the back. Rich, viscous coating mouthfeel, and a good balance between sweet, spice, and oak. Toasty finish, light smoke and tannic char flavors linger with a soft but pronounced mouth tingle. A little dried sweet-sour cherry at the tail. This is the rye Craig should be bottling as their basic 51% rye mashbill--it has more age, body, and complexity than their current straight rye. It is pricy at $59 compared to other quality ryes, and much more expensive (+$20, too big a jump!) than their basic rye for the extra time rested in a new toasted barrel. THIS (flavor-wise) is the only rye they should be bottling. It's a low rye sweet whiskey, easily approachable for tge rye curious. It makes a good neat sipper, mellows but holds it's toasty flavors and viscosity with an ice cube, and becomes a great Whiskey Smash with sugar, lemon, and my fresh garden mint. Come over, I'm pouring tonight. This is definitely worth trying. Not super complex or chewy, but summer evening ready, especially if you like toasted barrel whiskies.

This just hit the liquor stores in Utah this week. I made the mistake of believing this was the 2025 batch release, but noooo.... 2023 leftovers. Really didn't want this batch given the barreling types compared to a more complex set of finishing barrels for the 2025, but I discovered my mistake too late (bottles are in locked cabinets and you can't really study them with a state employee standing there). Thanks (for nothin') UDABS and High West 😑 Tasting neat. Golden straw color and strong coating legs in the glass. Nose is vanilla, wet grain, unpicked apple orchard fruit, and spicy grass, with a little ethanol in the background. Thin, sweet, ethanol burst, and then a little tingling spice comes on in the mouth. Thin mouthfeel. Not much to enjoy on the palette. Tannic bitter oak and a whiff of char smoke in the finish is more interesting, but even that finish remains sweet and sour, with some pepper and a hint of chocolate, but overall short. An ice cube blands it out even more, leaving floral sweetness. So... I keep thinking High West's own distilate has to get better, but it doesn't. Constellation Brands bought a notable blender of MGP juice and thought it could be a real distillery. Fancy looking bottles, high prices, a new distillery, all the glamour of Park City, UT and a romantic West motif, but... it's all looks and marketing hype. Time to reset this distillery--dump the stock and start over with a new team. I want to see them succeed making quality whiskey in Utah. I was pulling hard for them in their MGP blending era, from Rendezvous Rye to Double Rye to Bourye (and Son of) to Yippee- Ki-Yay, even Campfire. Check my reviews. But so far I've been disappointed in every single bottle with their own juice in it, even when they try to hide it blending in better MGP whiskey (for example, their Rendezvous Rye with the fabulous Ed Mell painting label--side by side tasting with an older Rendezvous bottle showed just how bad their juice was making the new blend.) I was really hopeful High West might score making American single malt, something I've gravitated to in the last 3 years, but this is pretty mediocre compared to the competition. It's a 3 star, with an extra quarter star for the finish. "This is not the single malt you're looking for. Move along."

Toasted barrel finish straight rye whiskey. MGP mashbill 95% rye, 5% malted barley, rested 6 years in oak. Then finished in char #2 heavy toast oak barrels. Batch 24-304, 50% ABV. Tasting neat. Rose copper and good coating legs in the glass. On the nose, oak char, toffee, light burnt sugar, a little spice in the background. On the palete, creamy butterscotch, toffee, oak char, and dry leather tannins. White pepper and spicy sweet grass back that up. Mouthfeel is creamy/oily, coating the mouth with tropical fruit sweetness. Finish runs from there to caramel corn, old soft apple, and a dry rye spice that lingers a long time in that oily coating that finally goes clean. No sour off flavors show up. There's little overpowering about the flavors of this whiskey, and it has little ethanol bloom. If anything, that toasted oak note stands out, and youll love or hate it depending on your reaction to that. I quite like that smoky quality. An ice cube tames the spice and accentuates the fruit notes. A really pleasant sip either way. Penelope is now a brand owned by Ross & Sqibb, blending and aging MGP distillate, and doing a good job of it. The price seems a little high, but this is a production experiment in toasted barrels. We'll see how far it goes, if it continues, and if the price eventually comes down.

Mile High Spirits, Denver, CO. This is their single barrel straight bourbon whiskey. Colorado corn, rye, and chocolate barley, distilled in a German copper pot, aged 3 yrs in charred white oak in CO. This is barrel # 3b 11, bottled at 52.80% ABV. The angels sing! Rosy copper color and average coating legs in the glass. Nose is sweet grain, vanilla oak, milk chocolate, light smokiness, and rye spiciness in the background. In the mouth, sweet grain, dark chocolate, smoky vanilla oak. Then comes the spicy rye, good and tingling, and just a hint of ethanol--much less than most 105 proof bourbons. Mouthfeel is oily thick and coating, soft and sweet. The finish runs with oak tannins, rye and sweet grass spiciness. Smoke lingers. No sour or off tastes at the end. The smokiness and chocolate notes span this bourbon from nose to tail. It's a really pleasant and cohesive profile. It caught me from the first taste. It drinks like an older bourbon with more than 3 years in oak. Ice dulls the spice and chocolate, but leaves it smoky sweet. I'm really captivated by this whiskey (especially after drinking it over a few days), and am wishing I bought two bottles in CO. This is one to search out. Great whiskey (if you like a little smoke--I do!), especially at this price point. Hopefully, Mile High Spirits will expand production and distribution (at least to Utah 😁) so I can get this without heading to CO... although, there's nothing wrong with that! Cheers!

Green River Full Proof is a NAS blend of five-to-seven-year barrels (mashbill 70% Corn, 21% Rye, 9% Malted Barley?) from select warehouses at Green River’s Owensboro, KY distillery. This bottle, bought in March 2025, is 118.1 proof, $50. Tasting neat. Chestnut color and rather thin coating legs in the glass. Classic aroma of vanilla, caramel, and oak make up the foundation of this bourbon's nose. Classic flavors on the palate as well. Burnt sugar caramel, oak char, cherry, and an ethanol bloom that is quite reasonable. Dark dried fruit, vanilla oak, and grassy rye spice. Mouthfeel is thin but feels more oily as you slide into the finish--spicy and barrel char, then mint and a hint of sour. Ice rounds out the ethanol and gives this a richer flavor. Classic bourbon flavors in this bottle. Not that complicated, but solid, full proof, 7-ish years and $50?! That's a great buy for this quality bourbon, and adds a quarter star to my review. Will revisit this as I enjoy the bottle.

A straight rye whiskey, pot distilled, rested 6 years in charred fine-grained American oak. Technically, it's a single malt (single distillery, 100% malted grain [rye in this case], and pot distilled), but not listed as such on the bottle or the company website. Distilled and bottled in San Francisco at 48.5% ABV, $65 for 700ml. Tasting neat. Color is copper with average coating legs in the glass. Aromas of sweet grass, spearmint and pine, butterscotch, and raisins. The palate is unusual. Sweet malted grain, vanilla caramelized sugar, cardamon, white pepper, and a touch of bitter melon. Mouthfeel is soft and coating. Ethanol bloom starts the finish that brings the rye spices and turns dry, with menthol, citrus, brine, and sour grapes lingering. Light milk, then bittersweet, chocolate hangs around. Been 20 years since I first tried Old Potrero in its 18th century format. I know Anchor was a distillery that followed(s) its own path. And yet... the palate on this still caught me by surprise. But the more I taste it, the more I like it for its unusual flavors. Not your typical bull-in-a-china-shop rye. More of a muted malted rye that turns a little saline and sour instead of spicy bomby in the finish. But there's mint and chocolate in there too. Enjoy this as a sipper, not a mixer. An ice cube thins the mouthfeel and shortens and mutes the finish, but it's still fine. Will revisit this with some time.

Stagg Jr, Batch 15, 131.1 proof, uncut, unfiltered, aged over eight years. This has been hiding (from me!) in my cellar since 2021. Since I scored a Stagg (no longer "Jr") Batch 24C last week, it's time to air this "Jr" Batch 15. Tasting neat. Brown copper color and strong coating legs in the glass. Nose is full of sweet grain, creamed corn, cherries, and vanilla oak. Not getting any ethanol. In the mouth, sweet salted caramel, cherry, baking spice, cinnamon, and vanilla oak. In the back, the ethanol bloom shows up, but it's NOT overpowering for 131 proof--just nicely warming. Mouthfeel is viscous, lightly oily yet clean, not cloyingly sweet. Finish shows the tannic oak, pepper, and dried sweet grass. Mint tingle holds the sweet (and it is burnt sugar sweet) in check. Long finish, hint of cherry, but not sour. An ice cube tames that finish to a degree, maybe improving it? Maybe not. Maybe yes? which is my predilection with many barrel proof whiskies. I recognize and appreciate all types of bourbon profiles. I'm drawn to rye and high rye whiskies. But there's something about the depth of these Stagg barrel proofs that really sings to me, time and again, even separated by years between tastings. They have forceful flavors, and while strong, I've never found them ruined by an overwhelming ethanol or sweetness, or vanilla oak for that matter. Ok, ok, I hate the bottle shape, and even the name "Stagg." There! Wish it was like the G.T. Stagg bottle--tall and thin neck, better for pouring (which, apparently, I need no help doing 😄). But... there is something about the Stagg bourbons (beyond their scarcity) that makes them great, consistantly. They are, as a whole, underrated rather than overhyped. At least on my pallet.

Malted Rye Whiskey, bottled in bond without chill filtration, made with 100% malted rye grain and aged six years (distilled Spring of 2018). Tasting neat. Light brown copper with good coating legs in the glass. Nose is malt, cherries, and orange chocolate. Quite light nose for a BIB 100% rye mashbill. In the mouth, WHOA! I thought this was rye!😄 Floral fruit, cooked malted grain cereal, oak and maple sugar, chocolate, and then a burst of rye spice. Not much ethanol, but it's there. Mouthfeel is oily, rich, and dry sweet. Like a single malt, but rye! Finish is dried sweet grass, light sour cherry, with tingling mint, clove, and white peppercorn spice that goes on and on. Pleasant sweet flavor lingers, unlike the sour aftertaste of some ryes. This isn't your typical rye by any definition, although those spicy rye traits come through in the finish. The nose and mouth are softer and rounder, like an unpeated single malt American whiskey. There's no rye explosion in the mouth. It's more fruit and light maple syrup sweet than brown sugar or caramel. It's got plenty of spice in the finish, but it's not a rye bomb. Yet it's 100% malted rye! It is more complex and interesting than those 51% rye mashbills whiskies masquerading as rye. And I even like it more than the other NR Straight BIB Rye I had last year which was brawnier and brasher--good, but less complex, and nothing that pushes the definition of a rye whiskey like this does! An ice cube flattens this whiskey, especially the spicy finish. Becomes sweeter. Can't see wasting this mixing cocktails-- they'll just hide that unique malt flavor and mouthfeel. This is a sipper for sure. An American single malt... but rye. I quite like this first taste, but will revisit it over time. The "unusual" taste profile of this malted rye needs more thought, but count me impressed by the result. I'm back after a couple of weeks. The more I taste this, the more I like it and appreciate how out of the ordinary it is. Bump from 4.5 to 4.75. Cheers!