Jim Beam Pre-Prohibition Style Rye

2.5 stars - Nice; 750 ml bottle Built for cocktails. Is that a compliment or an insult? Really close to being a good sipper…round off a few rough edges and this would be great at any price. This is very rye spice forward whiskey. MD/PA ryes are softer and sweeter. MGP and Michter’s ryes are more garden herb (dill, mint, etc.). Most KY ryes are spicy bourbon. This tastes like rye bread or roasted rye berries.

"My notion of what a five-star rating-system represents: * = excreble, you drank it and hated it, **=you’d choke it down if served it socially but never put it in your own liquor cabinet, ***=solid but not distinguished, capable of being your own house “well bottle” on a cost:price consideration, ****=outstanding, either great for the price or worth stretching for, *****=best in class, you may never/never be able to pay the price but were glad to have sipped it. All that said, Beam Pre-Prohibition may be /stretching/ towards a four-star rating. Only a producer of the magnitude of Beam could offer a taste this lusty and classic for so little. When drinking rye, one should be tasting RYE. You do here, but in a distinctly American, i.e. non-Canadian, fashion. If it’s not your home’s rye of choice, you should definitely audition it for that role so as to save yourself some of your hard-earned dough."

Nothing objectionable here, just spiced rye notes with zero complexity and finish that quickly evaporates

Baking spice and fruit on the nose; Medicinal spice with cherry noteson the palate; Moderate and dry finish rather than sweet like Rittenhouse Rye. It tastes more like a high-rye bourbon, but at the price point ($16.95) it’s hard to beat. Should be a good mixer and a light sipper for anyone who wants to dip their toes into the rye pool. I would buy again at this price, but for a more solid 90 proof rye I would probably grab Woodford Reserve Rye.