Hochstadter's Family Reserve Straight Rye Whiskey

I love the standard issue Hochstadter's vatted rye so this one had always peaked my interest! A few weeks back the most active member of the Arizona Whiskey Community @Hupperware graciously provided me a sample after a successful hunt (BTAC may have been slayed)... Thanks to this sample I bought the bottle and boy is it outstanding... Let's dive in... It enters very oily... Wonderful mouthfeel with a blast of toffee, toasted oak, baking spices and a hint of spearmint.... Vanilla, clove, cinnamon, pipe tobacco and oak dominate the mid palate... Plums and and dried berries compliment oak and baking spices for a long finish! Truly wonderful. This is as good as Rye Whiskey gets... Booker's Big Time Batch included... Cheers all..

Stale nilla wafer, Trader Joe’s plantain chips, better with a little water.

N - 123 proof for sure, pepper, floral P - spicy but it evolves into something sweet, oaky and floral F - Floral, nothing too huge, little bit of kick going down Very complex rye, if you get the chance to try it don’t pass it up

This caught me off guard, great nose as well as palate, right up there with the best of them. The heat on this was intense, really intense, but here is the problem, the finish was sublime, mediocre at best, very little complexity to it, I really really wanted it to slap me in the face at the end, but it didn't.