Old Forester Rye

Hearty burn. Lends nicely to a mixer. Very mild sweetness.

Time to continue our American whiskey summer. I've avoided rye for years; never quite reconciling it's flavor profile with my preferences. With my recent return to bourbon, I've decided to explore the ryes offered by some of my favorite bourbon distilleries. We'll start with Old Forester, and you'll see some other offerings from Wild Turkey down the line here. This is a new rye offering from Old Forester, which makes some of my favorite bourbon on the planet. They're reviving an old, old rye mashbill that Brown-Foreman acquired from another distillery they bought on their way to world domination. What makes this unique is that after the rye in the mashbill (around 62%), the next highest grain is malted barley at around (17%), with the remainder being corn. That ought to create a unique profile for any American spirit. What's in this one? The nose is softer than it is spicy. Already different from many ryes. The black pepper is present, but not in your face. If you're an experienced single malt drinker, you'll detect the barley sugars and maltiness on the nose, almost like Whoppers candy. No hint of the proof, despite the relatively high ABV. A fine start. It hits your tongue and BAM it explodes with flavors with the force of rocketing down a water slide. There's cherry, allspice, clove, semi-sweet chocolate, ginger, spearmint, and a hint of cinnamon. This all leads into a gentle, warming finish that lingers for a long time on the palate due to the proof, though at no point is it harsh or astringent. It's also oily and mouth coating due to the high barley content. Repeated visits to the glass bring out more cherry on the nose and more notes of toffee and graham cracker in the palate. What a ride! This is good rye. Bordering on great. Did I mention that this is around $25 MSRP? At that price this is a must buy. I can also report that it's versatile in mixed drinks (best old fashioned I've made so far in quarantine) and on ice (because Texas summer). I've had ryes that cost 3X what this does that I like a whole lot less. It packs a wallop of flavor and complexity for an almost criminal price. Highly recommend. Cheers!