Kentucky Owl 10 Year Rye (Batch #3)

Gem of a rye! Super complex and drinks way lower than its ABV.

2020 Advent: Day 1 — Damn! Love the depth on this one. The perfect balance of sweet, spicy, and a tad of pepper. I get a lot of brightness at first, which gives way to a complex fruitiness that’s tempered by the oak, with a subtle and lingering rye spiciness at the end. Smooth for the booze, with a nice orange note.

I usually like to work my way through half a bottle over many months before writing a review. So, consider this an emergency review. I opened this bottle less than a month ago, and it is all I want to drink these days. I have 60-70 open bottles and I cannot reach for anything else unless it’s to compare it this Owl. And yes, right now, I like this better than WhistlePig Boss Hog Black Prince, side by side, without hesitation. The Black Prince is a simpleton compared to the Wise Owl. If I could be gifted a bottle of whiskey, and I could choose between another bottle of The Black Prince or another bottle of Kentucky Owl Rye Batch #3, despite The Black Prince being twice as expensive, I would pick the Owl easily. My taste buds are having a full-blown revolution. A few months ago, I would have told you that I don’t like rye. I like malt whiskies, then mezcal, then rum, then bourbon, then cognac/Armagnac, then rye. I thought I didn’t like the rye profile - it tasted cheap. The “ryes” I did like had to be fancied up by wood finishing or blending shenanigans: Bourye, Midwinter’s, and The Boss Hog. What I didn’t like about most ryes was the blast of rye spices up front. It felt like uncivilized peasant whiskey. It’s all about timing, and the spices belong in the later chapters. With this Owl, there is rich cherry, raspberries, doughnuts, and cake in the welcoming opening of this whiskey epic. The full complement of rye spices come after. Dill, clove, coriander, and a little menthol builds towards a long finish. I still had the taste of rye in my mouth after brushing my teeth. I could still imagine the taste the next day. This whiskey is complex. If you cover your glass and walk away for an hour, it becomes dark, dark chocolate with some umami broth. The balance between spirit and oak is perfect. The age is appreciated. I abhor the telltale nuttiness of too-young bourbons or ryes. There is no nuttiness here, but also no oaky bitterness. Nowadays, peat rarely captivates my nose or tastebuds anymore. I can have a Laphroaig 10, Lagavulin 16, or Ardbeg 10 as a warmup dram. I miss the days I could still taste the smoke after I brush my teeth. But now, I feel as if I found my gateway into an exciting new realm of flavors that will linger if only because of unfamiliarity, but I suspect there’s true intrinsic quality to this whiskey as well. My rating system only goes up to 3 stars, but I have scored a few single malts 4 stars. I will, for now, keep this one at 3 stars, simply because I am a novice at this flavor profile and I may feel differently as I try more ryes. But I feel like I did many years ago when I first tried Lagavulin 16, which is, as Kia Jeffries once said in an Akinyele song, albeit referring to something different from whiskey: “Put it in my mouth.” Score: *** (she said put it in her mouth) How Much Does a Bottle Cost?: $170-230 How Much Do I Think a Bottle is Worth?: $410