Old Overholt Bonded Straight Rye Whiskey

Full bodied, spicy, and herbaceous. Unfortunately, it has an acidic flavor on top that is unpleasant, especially the finish. Probably good for a mixer.

Bit of a bite at the end but smooth early on

Definitely would buy again. Powerful blast of something but I really like it

Despite the fact that I love a good rye, I rarely keep an inexpensive bottle of decent rye around in my collection. Most of the ryes I've accumulated are premium. Sagamore Cask Strength and Tequila Finished, Knob Cask Strength, Alberta Cask Strength. So, maybe I should rephrase that. I don't keep a lot of regular strength rye around in the collection for mixing and general sipping when I want a rye that won't blow me out of the water. This, despite knowing there are plenty of decent ones in the 20-30$ range like Wild Turkey 101, Old Forester Rye, Overholt, and when they're on sale Russell's Reserve Rye and Woodford Reserve Rye (light in touch but delicious). If you'll notice, I left a big one out of that list: when it comes to the cheaper bonded ryes, I'm going to have to go with this one, the Overholt Bonded over Rittenhouse BiB, though I say that with the caveat I've only had one bottle of Rittenhouse and several of Overholt, Overholt Bonded, and Overholt 114. It's possible I have to taste Rittenhouse again, but the one time I picked it up, I was disappointed. I'd read so many reviews citing its strong flavor profile, its richness and robustness, but I found it bland. I had trouble, when drinking it on its own, teasing out aromas and flavors. It had me wondering if maybe, like a cola that sits too long, mine had gone flat. Even when I used it as a mixer, it was one of those that couldn't hold its own and the vermouth eclipsed it, the bitters eclipsed it. It didn't stand out. Overholt is one of those that, for my personal taste, I find serviceable as a sipper, but at a cost where I don't hesitate to use it in mixed drinks. It's not terribly complex: the nose is, surprise surprise, full of rye spice, with mingled vanilla, citrus and cherries with a yeasty note. The palate is almost straight cherry cola. It's almost as if you're having a whisky and coke without needing to add the coke, and let's face it, that's a good thing: if you're hitting your body with alcohol, you don't need to add all the high fructose corn syrup on top. The finish is peppery and rye-y, and if you're mixing it, it stands out and accentuates most drinks, like the manhattan, without overpowering. As I write this, I'm enjoying a Boulevardier with my wife, which if you're not familiar is essentially a negroni with rye instead of gin, and the Overholt adds a nice cherry tart sweetness and citrus notes to counterbalance the herbal bitterness of the campari. After, of course, I poured a slight Overholt straight so I could write this tasting, as this is my last heading into "dry July," to give my body a break. So yes, feel free to disagree about the whole Overholt Bonded vs. Rittenhouse BiB thing. Given the cost of both, I'm more than willing to try Rittenhouse again in the future, but that's only if I don't see a bottle of Sazerac sitting next to it on the shelf. Actually, if Sazerac is there, I'm not even glancing at either of these. But them's the breaks. The one thing I am kind of sad I missed out on was that had an Overholt 11 Year for a while on sale around here, but that was limited edition and is, alas, gone. But hey, them is also the breaks.