Barrell Seagrass

This is certainly an interesting one. A cask strength American/Canadian rye finished in rum, apricot brandy and madeira? It sounds like an absolute mess, honestly, but the reviews are really strong for this one so I picked it up. The eclectic nature of this really shines through. It is a full on tropical fruit bowl on the nose and on the palate. Powerfully sweet. You can certainly pick out apricot, rye and rum notes but the combination really goes straight to tropical fruit, so sweet and powerful it is almost like chewing gum, but it doesn't quite flip over into cloying. The cask strength rye asserts itself on the finish, reminding you that you are drinking strong whisky with a hot, spicy finish that may or may not be appreciated by the drinker. This is a real oddball, but it is undeniably fun and different. A real breath of fresh air unlike anything I've had. Honestly it is so unusual it a bit hard to rate other than to say it is good and something you really should seek out to try, but your mileage could easily vary.

Whew boy. The rye + cask strength of this is potent. Color is a pale herbal tea. Thin. Using first opening, the nose is ethanol and fruit. First sip upon opening, the heat is really too distracting to start pulling out all of these notes other people are waxing poetic about. Upon the advice of other reviewers, I let it sit for a bit before trying again. After sitting, the tropical fruit notes on both the nose and palate are evident as the ethanol disappears. There’s definitely evidence of rum- a good-quality aged rum. Adding water brings out more fruity sweetness- not overpoweringly sweet. It reminds me in some ways of the fruitiness of WhistlePig, but nothing takes away from the fire at the end. As soon as I swallow, it’s like my whole mouth just catches fire, and smolders for a long time. My tongue feels swollen. I keep waiting for the layers of flavor to present themselves, but the burn is just so distracting and the flavor notes disappear within seconds of swallowing. All in all, I was so ready to love this, but it’s just not a pleasant drinking experience for me. I guess barrel-strength ryes are just not my jam. I’ll try it iced and see how that works for me.

Not typically a fan of finished whiskeys, but this changed my mind, 💯.

I like this ton of different flavors don’t love it

Felt like my mouth was on vacation, this is currently my highest recommended rye. Totally untraditional flavor profile

A good and unique rye.