Redwood Empire Rocket Top Bottled in Bond Rye (Spring 2017 Vintage)

Bananas on the nose immediately. Caramel after a few minutes. Sweet aftertaste.

Taste- Neat 2 oz. In Glen cairn. Nose- Milk chocolate, candied orange, and a sprig of mint are the dominant notes. There is also a bit of an artificial, perhaps medicinal note of cherry cough drop. Taste- the taste tends to stay true to the nose with the candied orange hitting more like those jelly orange candies with a coating of chocolate. There is also a touch of maple. This gives way to spicier notes mid palate and a bit of newer wood. Gets a tad drying on the end. Finish- oak and cinnamon candies are the note I went out on. Overall- I usually am not impressed about craft whiskey, grain to glass bottles, BUT this particular rye hit the mark for me 75%. I loved those candied orange, milky chocolate notes. The cherry menthol, maple, and cinnamon flavors didnt scare me off, and I liked that depth. The 25% I didn't like was in the drying back end. A bit of wood shop right at the end made a really great bottle into a really good bottle. This distiller though is now on my radar. By comparison, I would purchase this over 4 yr Willett all day long. Same price, an extra year of age, and just more flavors here.