I’ve been tempted to buy this bottle as I’ve heard great things about Redwood Empire as a distillery and I enjoy ryes. I was able to try this at a bar, neat, in a glencairn glass.
The nose was was strong with mint, pepper, and rye spices that hit quick but ended sweet. It wasn’t too enjoyable as I didn’t have a real desire to go back to the nose.
The palate had a strong rye spice punch that was full of honey and spice. It wasn’t too complex and more just rye spices which left me wanting more. It didn’t wow me and more of disappointed me since again, I wasn’t drawn to it.
The finish was short, peppery and grabbed at your taste buds with the rye spices. Overall, for a $32 bottle (this was $8 a glass), it wasn’t a terrible rye but I have many other ryes I enjoy for $30-$40. I would even spend that extra $10-$15 for a more enjoyable rye. I’ll pass on grabbing this bottle BUT I do want to try their other offerings.