Redemption High Rye Bourbon Single Barrel Select

A very fragrant nose the oak jumps out if the glass. On the palate a very balanced bourbon. It was very enjoyable. It will definitely be a part of my collection.

Surprise find at Total Wine. Let’s see what we have here; says “Indiana” so like most Redemption products it’s MGP, it’s a 105 proof barrel pick, NAS but it’s “straight” so we have at least 4 years old, and non-chill filtered (yay!) Nose is straight up peanut butter. So much so that it makes any other review where I have detected heavy peanut on the nose pale by comparison. There’s some vanilla, honeysuckle, pomegranate, and ethanol in there as well, but peanut butter leads the way. On the palate, tastes just like it smells. Hate to be repetitive, but big peanut butter and vanilla flavors. Not complex at all, but what’s here is tasty. Finish and mouthfeel is where is where we have some youth showing through; finish is hot with considerable bite, and is pretty short. And it’s not really cinnamon or “baking spices”; just heat. While a flaw, it does help offset the sweetness a little. Some tea leaf after everything else fades. Mouthfeel is grainy AF. Is “sandpapery” a word? Well it is now. I liked this probably more than most will because I LOVE peanuty whiskeys. But like loving an ugly child, I see it’s flaws too. At $45, it’s not a rebuy because I can get this same profile at a higher proof for less money in the recent 5 yr Smooth Ambler Old Scout Total Wine pick. (Also MGP) If you don’t have access to one and enjoy peanuts in your whiskey, this might be worth a go.

Total Wine & More selection, barrel #20-079. I've always loved Redemption products. I think the standard high rye bourbon was one of my very first bottles that I had ever purchased, probably some time before I ever thought I'd start collecting. That was when my bar consisted of an upturned milk carton... Wow, how time does fly. I was not aware that they made single barrel offerings, let alone barrel picks; I suppose this could be new, though, since I had to add it to Distiller. But today I found this along with a rum cask aged rye, which was also new to me (maybe next time on that one). It's been a while, but I do remember the rye being potent on the nose (duh). Whereas this barrel still holds true to that, the ethanol is what hits hardest upon first sniff. I'm too lazy to look this up now, but I'm fairly certain this, at 105 proof, is slightly higher than the standard product, it's just hitting harder than I expected. Also on the nose is great, lightly charred oak, and mild vanilla. Speaking of rum from before, there's also a slight sugar sweetness, which bonds nicely with the spice and punch. So maybe I wasn't crazy with that whole sugar sweetness thing. The first taste brings a whole lot of sweet to my tongue, while the rye works into my outer gums before presenting itself. I can tell the corn is the star here (which is odd since 60% is not necessarily high corn content for a bourbon), with the sweet from that combining well with the unknown age and oak. It tastes like vanilla and sugar cane are the leading profiles, but it feels more well rounded than that, likely the rye doing a fine job in bringing the cinnamon gum burn in at just the right moment. The finish shows that the whiskey itself has a fairly light body, but the grain, particularly the high rye content, linger around to continue to showcase the base flavor. I'm happy to say that I enjoyed this slightly more than I anticipated. I didn't think it was going to be bad, by any means, but I'm really enjoying how this tastes both very unique and yet still standard. The friendly, cute employee used one descriptor of this being "complex," and although I detest that as an adjective, comparatively, it isn't far off. If one were to believe that rye bourbon is the only true bourbon (they would certainly have good values, assuredly), then this carries that belief to an even higher level by putting all the focus on the grain combo at it's roots, and gives no other gimmicks. Sure it's a single barrel and uniqueness is implied, but this is also what I remember from the standard high rye bourbon bottle, and this was clearly a good pick.