Peerless Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Rye

110.7 proof, barrel/bottle S/N 160503107. Barrel name: Lime Sherbert; with natural notes of candied lime & shea butter. Signed by Master Distiller Caleb Kilburn. So, at the conclusion of Operation Gateway 2021, Master Distiller Caleb Kilburn of Peerless set up a booth during our "morale day" to sell his products and provide free samples. After speaking with him for several hours and convincing the single barrel ryes to come out (as well as one single barrel bourbon that he opened for tasting only at my drunken request), I was very well happy to buy anything since he offered to sign any purchase. As a thank you to our mission team for our efforts, I was able to purchase this single barrel for $90. I may have drunkenly shared this with almost everyone on the mission, so I may have forced him to give the same discount to everyone that may have only been meant for me. I hope this was not the case, but either way, I'd like to thank Caleb for supporting the military by filling them with a generous amount of free whiskey samples, myself included, and for being such a great conversationalist to me as I babbled on and baked in the heat. Same great depth of color with a strong caramel note as the standard small batch. The oak leads the nose, slightly more charred and aged than the last small batch I had, which also imparts a buttery note from the wood, which may be the shea butter note that was noted at the distillery. There is a hint of candied lime that I know for a fact I only get as a placebo and wouldn't normally smell if it wasn't presented; this is more closely represented by the grass and cinnamon of the fresh rye grain. The initial flavor focuses more on the rye grain than the oak, with the baking spices and bread coming together on the tongue, and the cinnamon and deep mint penetrating into the gums, all happening at the same time. It definitely has no different flavor notes than the small batch I had, just occurring at different times and intensities. The finish still has a medium spice to it, and a slight buttery note not unlike an oaked chardonnay, but this is as close to a shea butter note that I've gotten, especially because I'm pretty sure that I've never consumed shea butter in my lifetime. No lime or even citrus notes to speak of. Another big thanks to Caleb for this fun experience; I may not have made it through 20+ light beers, but I feel like I won the evening in my own way. I would disagree with the tasting and profiling notes of this particular single barrel, but I'm still happy to add only my 5th signed bottle to my collection, and for having scored it at such a nice price. I would not ever recommend purchasing a Peerless single barrel for $135 MSRP under any circumstances, but if that doesn't seem to matter to you, I would certainly recommend finding a way to try all single barrel options (distillery seems the best way to do so), before making such a large summed purchase. Peerless will always make great rye whiskey, but will remain off my shelf (with the exception of this unique experience) until the prices drop near agreeable levels, and the little remaining pretentiousness of the brand finds a way to dissolve itself.

Neat. Neck pour. “Apple Pie” from Justin’s House of Bourbon. This nose is crazy... I’m not sure if it’s crazy in a good way. I get the name “Apple Pie” and I am struggling to come up with anything else. It’s literally just cinnamon, apple, and crust. You know, I’d actually argue pear pie is more in line. There is a sourness. I’m almost nervous about the taste... Average mouthfeel. Just cinnamon and apple. Getting some nice rye spice and apple on the finish. Finish is decently long. My mouth even has the after taste of apple. This is nuts. It’s just an apple. The more I drink it, there is no pie. Just apple. What a crazy single barrel. A few months back I was provided a Peerless Rye in a blind flight and it did well. I finally pulled the trigger on my own bottle and it was clearly picked for being such an odd outlier. I’m shocked by how defined the apple flavor is but I’m probably not going to drink this again. I will send this out in samples and tastings to see what others think. I’m going to use it as an illustration of the apple flavor than a whiskey I want to drink. Weird.

Costco single Barrel pick Barrel date April 16th 2016. Ruddy copper. Legs appear slowly, but run fast. Lots of barrel on the nose. Cacao, ripe fruit, black cherry, coconut flakes. The rye comes through as the typical mustiness and spice, but it's not the first hit to the nose. Soft on the palate, leaves lots of heat behind. Mid palate is mostly sweet, with milk chocolate, cherries and coconut. Finish is warm, spicy and sweet and shows superior balance. Dry grains and cacao weave in with the mint and eucalyptus notes. Really impressed by this. Drinks more like a well-aged high rye bourbon then what I would expect out of a straight Rye