Tastes

A spicy rye bread. Full of rich grains. It’s a bit hot on thr initial sip, but then it transforms a bit. Cinnamon toast crunch popped into my head. The taste lingers for a while. Definitely want to sip this one slowly and enjoy it.

This one takes a while to get used to. Spicy and you can feel the high proof. So if you like a strong rye with some heat. This is for you. It would make some great cocktails, but the price point is too high to justify that. The nose is sweet with cane sugar and vanilla bean, but don’t let that fool you. A big piece of ice brings out the sweetness.

Big fan of this! It’s very sweet on the initial sip, but there are some fruity and floral notes that kick in. Has a nice warming element. Unfortunately it fades to quickly. But it’s a great sipper. One that I will definitely keep in my rotation.

If you like a really spicy rye with some heat, then this is for you. I personally like using it for cocktails that call for a simple syrup because the spice balances the sweetness of the other ingredients. I get some honey and black cherry when sipping this on the rocks. But my neat pour was full of heat. There is definitely an audience for this bottle, I’m just not a part of it.

Real sweet on nose, lots of sweet corn for me. I tasted citrus, black cherries, cinnamon, and some black pepper at the end. It didn’t linger long which is a bit disappointing. After giving it some air and tasting it some more, my brain started firing off “Cherry NyQuil”. Which isn’t great. This bottle might work well in a whiskey sour or smash.

I bought this on a whim while visiting an awesome liquor store in southern Indiana. Nose is sweet with hints of honey, apple, and sweet corn. The mash bill is 68% rye, 35% corn, and 5% barley., so it's no surprise to get the sweet corn notes. But even with the sweeter nose, the rye is very prominent. My neat pour was spicy and really engulfed the front of my tongue. The finish was long and pretty bold. Some of the sweetness was still there, but overall more heat and spice. I will say that it's something you get used to as you sip on it. Adding some ice takes some of the heat off, but I think it taste better neat. Overall, a nice surprise from an Indiana distiller.

The worst thing about these experimental bottles is that they only come in 200ml bottles. Because I’d love to get a full 750ml of any of them. The nose on my neat pour was sweet and citrusy. I gave it a sip and picked up some mint really quick, which surprised me. Then the finish was long and peppery. But that mint note faded away with future sips and morphed into burnt marshmallow and molasses. At 92 proof I think it’s very accessible. Too bad the little bottle didn’t last long!

I remember having Blanton’s early on as I started getting into whiskey. At the time I thought it was the best thing ever. Fortunately, it still holds up. Nose is sweet. Like a mix of vanilla bean and a caramel apple. It just smells refreshing. I drank it neat. It’s smooth. I’d say pretty inviting for most drinkers. But the back end has some heat. Which I appreciate. Got a citrus note that taste like burnt orange, but not in a bad way. The finish was long on my first few sips, but that faded the more I drank. If I see a bottle at MSRP, I’ll always buy it. I’ve tasted a lot of stuff since the first time I had Blanton’s, so I’m not inclined to hunt for it or pay an exuberant price for it.

It was sweet on the nose for me. I was picking up some peanut butter that made me think of a Reese’s peanut butter cup. I was caught off guard with the spice that came with my first few sips. It was smoky and full of cinnamon like a stick of Big Red. I was ready to give it a lower score, but as it aired out, the neat pour grew on me. I usually pick a rye for most of my cocktails, but I think this would serve as a good base as well. It got sweeter as well and the spice subsided a bit. It does have a nice, long finish that got better the more I drank it. I’ll have to try a pour with a big ice cube next time to see how the flavor changes.

Maybe I’ve been tasting too many high proof whiskies, but this one fell flat for me. Nose is fruity, some caramel apple and citrus. Hint of honey. I also get some sweet corn as well, which makes sense due to its mash bill. None of that sweetness really comes out for me as I taste it. Getting a lot more spice. Black pepper and rye. And the mouth feel was pretty thin. I picked up some smoky, black cherry flavor after a few more taste. It added some complexity, but not enough for me. It’s not a terrible whiskey by any means. But I’d personally spend my $50 on something else.