Jack Daniel's Bonded Rye

Well im not going to argue with the experts on this one. This has become one of my favorite Rye’s.

I'm a rye fan. I love a rye sidecar neat with a hot cup of good black coffee on those special brunch mornings. For the last few years my rye of choice was the bog standard 86 proof Jack Daniels Straight Rye. It's a good tasting, soft whiskey that fit this use perfectly and I typically keep a bottle in the cabinet for just such an occasion. Unfortunately it seems that bottle, which was readily available in my market for under $20, seems to be no more. In its place we have 100 proof bottled-in-bond rye. Let's take a taste. For this tasting I'm neat side-by-side with the 90 proof JD Single Barrel rye. On the nose the two are very, very similar as to be expected. The BiB has a hotter ethanol note accompanied by a slightly more intense caramel sweetness note. On the palate the single barrel is sweet and nicely complex, with a very slight peppery finish and a modest fade. It's a nice sipper, better than the original Straight Rye in every way. There's a definite wood and barrel foundation and the liquid also offers up slight dill, apple pie crust, and a ghost of limey citrus on the back of the tongue. In comparison the BiB Rye is drier. Much drier in fact, with more prominent oak and barrel elements. The fruitiness is reticent, the vanillins and sugars from the wood are pushed a bit forward. There's a slight brineyness that I didn't get with the single barrel. It's hotter in the finish and doesn't strike me as being quite as well integrated as the single barrel. In a Manhattan(2:1:2) I think the choice of vermouth is going to make or break the cocktail. The JDBiB doesn't like my Cnia Mata Spanish vermouth, is happier with Cocchi di Torino or with Martini Rossi sweet. Those later vermouths are more intensely flavored and possibly sweeter than the Cnia. This is a good rye, but it's not really my jam. I'd rather mix with Wild Turkey 101 Rye or sip neat with Russel's Reserve 6 or one of the Sagamore expressions. Or the Jack Daniels Single Barrel for that matter. This is a fine rye whiskey and a good extension for the Jack Daniel's line-up. That said, it's unlikely I'll replace this bottle in my regular rotation. It's a bit too expensive for a casual mixer and not quite good enough to satisfy as a solo act. A good effort, but maybe not as impressive at the Triple Mash for the same kind of money.