Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Straight Rye

I received a 5 sample blind tasting challenge from @PBMichiganWolverine and this straight rye from E.H. Taylor was one of them. I only had 1 ounce to work with so I used half for the challenge and saved half for a review. This is a BiB rye that contains no corn, bottled at 50% ABV, natural color of a dark amber. I don’t know if it is chill filtered but I suspect that it is. The nose is sticky sweet and very confectionary/fruity. Nothing like any rye I’ve had before in that there is none of the rye grain/spice profile that is typical of a rye whiskey. Blackberry jam, grape jelly, blueberry pie filling and, oddly enough, donut glaze. Some wood spice starts to show after some time. This noses more like a quality blackberry brandy (if such a thing exists) than a rye. After more time the rye starts to come through, but in very small quantities. There is also some mint, plums and possibly fennel. Lots of spices on the palate, both wood and rye. Not intense or hot spices but the flavors are there. Light oak, blackberries, blackberry brandy. Cinnamon, clove and barrel char. A bit of an alcohol bite but not bad. A medium bodied mouthfeel that is dry and mouth coating. The finish is medium length with blackberries, wood and rye spice. During the blind tasting I really disliked this rye, but that very well could have been due to the fact that I was trying 4 others with it and you can never completely clear your palate between each one. I really believed it was a blackberry brandy, and with the lack of rye spice/flavor, and the abundance of berries I think I was justified to think that way. This goes for $70 locally and I would never pay that much, probably wouldn’t buy it at any price honestly. Sampled on its own it’s much better than it was during the challenge, but still not that great. 3.25 and a thanks to Pranay for the sample. Cheers

Noel brought this for Christmas dinner 2018. One of the better ryes I have tasted.

Smooth with just enough cinnamon