Buffalo Trace Kosher Rye Recipe Straight Bourbon (2020 Release)

This is the third of the three Kosher offerings that I am now able to try. The name of this one is slightly confusing because it says “Rye Recipe”, but it is not a rye whiskey. They do offer a rye whiskey under the “Kosher Straight Rye” label. The Rye Recipe is actually a rye bourbon, in contrast to the Wheat Recipe, which is a wheated bourbon. The Rye and Wheat Recipes are referring to the secondary grain in their respective bourbon mashbills. I just wanted to clear that up, as I was even confused at first. The nose is sweet with dried fruit, raspberry, baking spices, leather and a touch of rye. Very Buffalo Trace (distillery) profile. The palate is sweet and oily with dried fruit, a nice leather note, chocolate, baking spices and a little bit of oak. The finish is longish with lingering dried fruit and spices. Another very pleasant offering from the Kosher line. Reminiscent of other Buffalo Trace offerings, it stands out on its own. Each of the Kosher offerings have a more rich and full flavor compared to their obvious counterparts. I tried to figure out which rye bourbon mashbill this was (#1 or #2). I compared it against Buffalo Trace and Blanton’s to see if one was more similar to it. That didn’t really help, so then I increased the proof and went to EH Taylor Small Batch and Rock Hill Farms (both 100 proof). Things got a little tougher here because it shared a lot of similarities to both of them. But from the beginning I felt like this was a mashbill #1 bourbon, but every now and then Rock Hill Farms (mashbill #2) would poke out a similar note or two which confused me. I could see the Kosher Rye Recipe even being a blend of the two mashbills. But if I had to choose one, I would say it’s mashbill #1