Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Straight Rye

If we could give half stars this would definitely be a 4.5/5

Moochathon #4 Very good, but need a concentrated tasting (as opposed to a parking lot tasting) to give better notes.

Nose- Brown sugar and a hint of orange zest. Donut glaze. Body- Baking spices with a lot of cinnamon. There is a bit of earthy funkiness. Nose- That earthiness becomes more pronounced in the finish. I like it. It is different and I like it as a rye.

While whiskey-smart folks may mock me for thinking there could be something similar between this guy and Sazerac, I could not have been more wrong. Very different, yet not a bad thing. To me, a lot of ryes have a briny, pickle juice flavor as the dominant taste (Sazerac included), but this guy has an aged-wood nose and a corresponding sawdust taste punching through the body. Honestly, it’s growing on me over time in a way that most ryes don’t. It’s unique in that way. There’s a mild citrus flavor on the body too, and that carries through to the finish. And this may be the power of suggestion, but I think I can taste the E.H. Taylor influence. Over time I’ve come to taste a hint of the green apple flavor that is characteristic to small batch. Not bad, and I think I prefer this to most ryes. However, for the price point, I can think of dozens of whiskeys and whiskies I’d rather have in my collection. Probably won’t be a permanent member on my shelf.