Elijah Craig Kentucky Straight Rye

I do not imagine this high-rye bourbon will be good. That's exactly what this is, given the abysmal 51% rye mashbill. It's very clear that Heaven Hill was looking to add to their infinite product line, while cleverly keeping their over-hyped bourbon flavor, and they likely have the second most die-hard followers (behind the dirty buffalo) that would buy this without any type of questioning anyway. Even though the rye increase is the absolute minimum, I'm hoping Heaven Hill, king of rye whiskeys, brings enough to this to change it up. Like most rye whiskeys, this is probably aged far less than it's bourbon counterpart. However, the color has quite some depth, and since I imagine the same barrels are used as Elijah Craig bourbon, then we may be looking at some quality age. Surprisingly, the rye does come through well in the nose; the mint, cinnamon, and some slight grass are all present. Don't get it twisted, however, because there is also plenty of sweetness. The vanilla and caramel clearly come from the barrel, but the sugary notes behind it are likely from the unnecessary corn additive. The first sip helps me to understand the vision that the distillery may have had. The rye grain flavor is present, but the corn helps to dial down the initial spice bomb, and instead imparts just grain flavor. This flavor is not raw, however, as luckily, this does taste of a nice, longer age. The middle gets a little rough, as the sweet corn and spicy rye battle it out somewhat, resulting in an almost malty note. This is slightly upsetting, but the finish eventually comes along (it's quite slow to build, but also slow to leave), leaving the cinnamon and grass flavors (classic notes to be expected from Heaven Hill rye) to work along with the medium 94 proof. The spice does work it's way into the gums, but there is a pretty decent list of rye whiskeys that do impart heavier spice than this. I don't love the idea of saying it, but this is fairly pleasant, provided you don't have any other actual rye whiskeys on your bar to rival this rye-inspired offering. This is disappointing to say only because it was likely made as a money grab, and the "limited market" attests to that, especially since I found it in Ohio. Even at a pretty good price, I still laughed when I first saw it, because I knew without looking that I would never see it again. Then, after seeing only 3 bottles remaining and a "limit 1 per person" sign, I bought one only so that others could not (great market you're breeding there, Ohio and allocators). So hey, you got your sale, and it will be drunk, but it won't be a recommendation.

Neat. Neck pour. Expectations are low on this. I didn’t hear many good things. But I got it at MSRP and it finally hit Ohio. Hard to resist something new to explore at $30. The nose is very minty! Geez. One of the mintiest ryes I can recall. Lots of pine too. I’m not saying this as a turn off, but it almost smells like cleaning supplies. The longer I sit with it a darker side emerges. My wife has these natural grain crackers, it’s reminding me of that. Earthy, natural grains toasted in a cracker. Getting a nice sweetness too, butterscotch. Vanilla frosting. This has morphed a bit. Honestly, quite surprised by this nose. There is depth here that I was not expecting at the proof and prior word of mouth. Mouth feel is surprising too. It has a nice oily thickness. Really nice texture. Hint of mint and vanilla but not much flavor on first impression on the tongue. Little brown sugar there too. This is a weird pour. It’s like there is a flavorless blind spot right in the middle of the experience, so odd. So the initial faint sweetness carries on for an odd amount of time but when the flavor does hit it is nice. Simple but nice. Reminds me of a tiramisu. Cake, coffee, icing, chocolate. Rye spice finally shows up on the finish, which lasts longer than expected too. It is quite oily. Perfectly pleasant sipper. I could drink this as an everyday and be completely satisfied. The lack of flavor mid experience takes it down a tad further but it’s also $30. I need to go back to other reviews now and see why these disliked it. I’d recommend it if you see it and haven’t tried it.