Laws San Luis Valley Straight Rye

These are blind tasting notes (Flaviar Advent Calendar) The smell reminds me mostly of vodka. Like, an oaky vodka, with some off-putting sour wax element. With water, the smell actually gets worse The taste - this is very hot when sampled neat. As the alcohol burn fades, there is a really nice and unexpected caramel flavor that is punching above the sour wax.  With water, the promising caramel note is muted. There is some dusty corn/grain husk and some cinnamon spice, but the wax element is still noticeable. Oddly, the finish on this one is where the flavors come out.  The finish is long and once the sour wax fades there are some nice corn, caramel, cinnamon, and dill spice flavors.  This reminds me of one of those four grain mash up whiskies.  This has its enjoyable moments but I find myself fighting the rest of the sour waxiness to get to those enjoyable moments. This is a pass for me.  Overall Grade: C-  (Below Average)

Grain. Peppery

Nice medium finish

Hints of buttery vanilla and caramel