High West Double Rye

Okay, rye spices, alcohol, vanilla. Not a fan of this one

A youthful copper color. There's toffee and caramel aromas right up front, but then it dips deep down into some frontier pharmacist's latest elixir. An aggressive and vibrant nose of orange peel, orange bitters, mint, eucalyptus, peppermint, mustard green, and wintergreen cough syrup. On the palate, there's a brief respite from the herbal onslaught with some honey, vanilla, and graham cracker notes before giving way to an almost perfumy citrus oil and cinnamon Red Hots. The finish is dominated by spearmint, fresh mint leaves, and more eucalyptus slowly giving way to more cinnamon and black pepper spice. I'm surprised by the popularity of this whiskey given how herbaceous and minty it is versus equally accessible sweeter ryes. Truly tastes like something you might find in a drug store in the Old West.

Holy dill. The nose is lots of intensely sweet dill, white pepper, and almost a nitrile glove type smell. Lots of earthy yet sweet spices, dill weed, mustard green, anise, etc. Not overly or artificially sweet. Nose is promising, no hint of alcohol as expected at only 92 proof. Herbaceous, to sum up in a word. The palate delivers on the sweetness, but not the herb-y uniqueness. Sweet generic caramel and a little bit of oak is present, along with a sizeable dose of 'dusty' flavor and feel (leather maybe?). The finish brings back a tiny bit of earthy-ness and dill, as well as a tad of the white pepper. Finish is pretty short and small, leaving really only some lingering sweet pickle-y dill and mint. The takeaway: $30 is right a little high for a blend of 2-7 year old ryes. I wish that I could compare to older bottles that had some of the 17 year old sourced juice in it, maybe those would have delivered better. But, at the end of the day this was pretty dissapointing, both from a price/value standpoint as well as a nose promise and palate delivery. The nose really promises a lot that the palate and finish can't get close to delivering on. The herbaceous-ness is noteworthy and unique, but doesn't merit buying again for me, hence the 3.25 stars rather than 3.75. If you want to show a new whiskey drinker the difference between a bourbon and a rye, this is an okay vessel for that, but I would still suggest Dickel or Bulliet ryes or even Sagamore for a spicier palate, but this is a great nose. I guess maybe if you like dill then this may be your jam? But personally, not a fan of the new Double Rye! blend

Spicy, bold taste

A little floral too.