Tastes

Hi-Time Wine Cellars Pick, OESO, 10 years 4 months Nose is fragrant with sweet corn, rye crisp cracker, honey, pepper, sweet green oak, ginger ale, mandarin orange, and toffee. There’s a lot going on here, but somehow it works. Unfortunately some ethanol does rear to ugly head. Palate is much more traditional than the nose would indicate with rich vanilla, caramel, buttercream, baked apple, nutmeg, and macadamia nut. Flavors pop and are well integrated. Long finish offers various wood tannins, cherry, peppercorn, continued vanilla from the palate, cinnamon, and chocolate mint. Mouthfeel is full bodied and creamy, elevating the experience. Kind of a roller coaster ride of a whiskey that keeps you guessing and I’m here for it. Four Roses barrel strength picks tend to be excellent and this is no exception. At $89.99 I paid via mail order it’s an obvious slam dunk. No regrets.

Nose is pungent and complex with dried fruits, (date, raisin, fig) gooey caramel sauce, toasted oak, bakers chocolate, and nutmeg. Very appealing. Ethanol basically non-existent. Palate brings those date, raisin, and fig notes from the nose but in an almost jam-like way. Also grape soda, honey, plum, and candied ginger. Flavored are layered and punchy. Long finish offers Almond Joy candy, delicious toasted oak, prickly cinnamon, maple syrup, and barrel char. Mouthfeel is full and oh so slick. Drinks just a touch hotter than its proof, as Makers is known to do. Ok, wow. This is great. In my wish list of flavors “date/raisin/fig jam” would be at the top of the list. Best of the wood finishing series yet. At $74.99? Come on. Unquestionably a rebuy, but sadly all sold out in my area so no backup for me. Get it if you can.

Nose brings sweet corn, rye spice, butter cream, pine, lemon Pledge, and an earthy funk (mushroom? rutabaga? eggplant?) Ethanol is pesky. Palate deviates from the nose and leans toward the prototypical; vanilla, caramel, pepper, cereal grains, red apple and oak. Flavors are “bright and green”. Theres not much mid-palate here at all; rushes toward the finish. Medium length finish really shines with fruity and spicy notes including applesauce, pink peppercorn, pear, mild cocoa, clove, honey, mint, and more green oak. Mouthfeel is full-bodied and creamy. A solid but maybe not spectacular offering. I did enjoy the punch and heft, but ultimately comes off a little younger than its reported 7-9 years. However the $39.99 makes me want to forgive. Ultimately I have to say I think this falls just a hair shy of rebuy status.

A higher proof release that I had been hoping for. Let’s go… Nose is rich and dark with pumpernickel, brown sugar, molasses, vanilla pudding, gingerbread cookie, well aged oak, and nutmeg. Nothing like a rye, but intriguing nonetheless. Ethanol is insanely low for the proof. Palate brings rock candy, spun sugar, cake batter, marshmallow, buttercream, nutmeg, and mint. Flavors are punchy, but I’m not going to lie; the finish steals the show (see below) Ridiculously long finish offers crème brûlée, burnt marshmallow, white pepper, soft oak, cherry (what’s cherry doing in a rye? I have no idea but I’m here for it), toasted rye crackers, cinnamon, barrel char and after everything else fades, a delightful chocolate mint. Mouthfeel is vicious and mouth coating. This is barely a rye. If you came over and said “give me a rye”, I probably wouldn’t reach for this one. However if you came over and said “give me a great whiskey”, I certainly would. Much better than the first release. At $79.99 it’s in the “no brainer” category and I can’t wait for the next release.

Nose is full of sweetness and heat; cake frosting, nougat, maraschino cherry, and toasted almond , along with some wild notes of rubber band, bubble gum, air freshener, barrel char, stale old book, and leather. Weird, man. Ethanol starts off a little intense but dissipates nicely over time. Palate brings things a little more down to earth with the cake frosting from the nose, orange peel, vanilla crème, ginger, and honey. Not much complexity here. Flavors are extremely“bright”, like a treble knob turned up to 11. Medium length finish offers cinnamon heat, sharp oak bite, pop rocks candy, and wet cardboard. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, with some graininess that hits the sides of the tongue and becomes fatiguing after repeated sips. It occurs to me that I’ve never had a wheat whiskey that has wowed me, and this is no exception. While sweet, it is also spikey and somehow still unrefined at 10 years. The general consensus on this online seems to be favorable, and at $80 I just don’t get it. Comparing this to another 115 proof bourbon in Old Forester 1920 and it gets even worse. I think I am done with wheat whiskies moving forward, as if this is what a 10 yr age statement offers then I can’t see thing getting much better.

Nose is deep and rich with pumpernickel rye spice, caraway seed, toasted oak, tangerine zest, and a hint of dill. Also interesting notes of toffee, molasses, and cigar box. Ethanol non-existent. Palate gets sweeter with the toffee from the nose, devils food cake, caramel, cotton candy, clove, and spruce. Flavors are well integrated and pack a punch given the proof. Finish offers spearmint, white pepper, toasty barrel char, mandarin orange, anise, and allspice. The sweet elements from the palate carry on through the finish making for an interesting ride. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, nicely oily, and fits the flavor profile well. As a rye this makes for an excellent bourbon. Ok just kidding, but it is quite unique and high on sweetness and low on botanicals and spice. It’s non-aged stated, but I’ll bet my right arm that this spends more than 4 years in the barrel. Now for the elephant in the room; I paid $129.99 via mail order because of stupid Buffalo Trace hype. This is an excellent $80 whiskey. Too bad it doesn’t cost that. I’m going to pretend the cost is less as giving this less than a 4.0 because it’s too expensive to rebuy seems criminal.

Nose is smokey as hell (I know you’re thinking “it’s a smoked whiskey, duh!” but man this is strong) Burnt wood, burnt tire, charcoal, ash, burnt sugar, burnt caramel, and thankfully a little burnt marshmallow. Ethanol is low, but the smoke aromas are so overwhelming that it still comes off sharp as if it were ethanol laden. On the palate things improve greatly. Crème brûlée burnt sugar topping, molasses, vanilla, smoke, and bitter wood. 90 proof but drinks like 110+. Finish is wild with a meaty, smoked sausage element, backyard charcoal grill, mesquite, barbecue sauce, and soot. Body is thin and light; could really use more heft to match the flavor profile. Thankfully it is not grainy, however. A polarizing whiskey. I don’t hate this as I like smoke flavors, but ultimately it’s too unbalanced and too unrefined and I can get this same profile better executed in Balcones Brimstone. At $40, the price is more than reasonable but still can’t see myself buying it again.

Nose is subdued but pleasurable with clean rye spice, citrus, powdered sugar, lemongrass, peach, and fresh, green oak. Ethanol freakishly non-existent. Palate brings brown sugar, strawberry, barrel char, cardamom, blackberry, clove, toffee, oak, and nut brittle. One of the “greenest” whiskeys I have tasted as many flavors seem right off the vine/patch. While punchy, this still manages to drink well below its proof. Loooong finish of white pepper, mature oak, raspberry, cinnamon, baked apple, and peanut. Chocolate covered fruits after everything else fades. Mouthfeel full-bodied and unctuous. Fantastic. A fun rye with a unique profile. I like my ryes bold and high proof, and this fits the bill and the multiple berry notes mixed with rye spice with a relatively gentle mouthfeel really worked for me. At $89.99, it’s actually underpriced in today’s market for what you are getting. Vastly superior to the 10 year (which I paid more for) and certainly something worth buying gain.

Nose offers chewy caramel candy, vanilla crème, almond, bakers chocolate, sweet corn, and the barest hint of oak. Ethanol is not prevalent but slightly pesky for the proof. Palate brings several elements from the nose; sweet creamed corn, caramel, vanilla, and oak. Sounds boring? Because it is. Overly simplistic and lacking any sort of complexity. Can’t believe this is 10 year old whiskey as it tastes more like bottom shelf. Am I drinking Jim Beam white label right now? Finish brings peanut, cheap cinnamon candy, cigar, sour vinegar (yikes!) and a bitter, astringent oak. A burnt charcoal note lingers, but it’s not particularly good. Mouthfeel is thin, and grainy enough that repeated sips have a sandpaper effect. Oof. I’m not sure what has happened to this formerly great brand lately but the last few releases have been bordering on terrible. At $49.99 this is wildly overpriced as I’d definitely take the standard 9 year over this any day. If this is “Blenders Select”, better get yourself some new blenders right away.

So we’ve tried the baby version (90 proof), the grown up version (100 proof) and now like a Pokemon, Sazerac rye reaches its final form… Nose is vibrant and punchy with hot honey, golden apple, rye spice, caraway seed, mint, grass and pepper. Some earthy barnyard funk/mushroom came out after a while which I found interesting. Ethanol is there but hey, it’s 125 proof. Palate opens with the sweet side of rye offering more apple (a weird note for a rye but it’s there), cocoa, orange slice candy, and more hot honey. Flavors blast your tongue. Finish turns things toward the herbal with fennel, mint, dill, cinnamon, black pepper, and an oak which presents as slightly sour. Worth noting that the sweet notes from the palate still linger making this a delightful ride. That black pepper note definitely carries, making the finish quite long. Mouthfeel is full bodied and oily as fuck. I love this. I favor my ryes punchy and high proof so this really hit the mark for me. Is it the best rye I’ve ever tasted? Well no, but it’s certainly great. And that’s where I reveal that I paid $40 for this. $40??? Are you serious? When you factor in that this is literally half the price of almost every other rye of this quality on the market, it has to be a 5.0. It just has to be. I got this on mail order but if it ever hits shelves in my area it’s literally going to live in my cabinet forever. Yeah, it’s like that.