Rittenhouse Rye Bottled in Bond

Great run of the mill rye for such a great bang for your buck

Wow, I love this rye. Under $30, 100 proof, and absolutely full of flavor. I squirt some water in it and that’s all and it tastes wonderful. New staple, go-to for me.

This boy right got here got some value. Hopefully I sounded tough when you read that out loud.in your mind. But mos def not as tough as this lil sturdy lil sumbish right here. You can pour a 1/5 of the bottle in a tumbler of ice and she don’t skip a beat. Still strong,still leathery and spicy and musty and sweet...still a mans rye. I don’t trust the government for shit but they did a good job “overseeing” this as it bonded so hard in the bottle. Am I saying that right? Am I cool yet, bros? Please say yes.

I’m just now dipping my toe into the rye world, but if this is a sign of things to come I’m jacked! Grass and wood on the initial nose with allspice and vanilla spice cake creeping in the back end; full and creamy with a nice baking spice/vanilla spice cake notes; Long and peppery but very pleasant finish, probably be a definite go to by the fire in the winter time; Will definitely be a staple in my home bar; probably makes an awesome old-fashioned, but is quite a treat neat; I wouldn’t recommend on the rocks, but a drop or two of water might bring out more nites; and at only $25-27 it’s such a steal that it should be illegal. Awesome introduction for me into the world of Rye!

Tasted neat following a mostly-full carton of Fairlife Butter Pecan ice cream. Color is a rich reddish-brown in the bottle, but a lighter-than expected shade of diabetic piss in the glass. It doesn’t have any legs because whiskey can’t walk, and it also doesn’t have a nose. However, my nose tells me that this stuff smells like the holidays. One thing that I can assert with certainty is that this whiskey pairs excellently with butter pecan ice cream. The sweet, nutty, maple-vanilla-y notes of the ‘scream perfectly compliment the warm and spicy notes of the whiskey. It’s not an overly sweet rye, though it’s certainly sweeter than a lot of ryes on the market (especially those with the 95%/5% MGP mashbill), but the sugary notes are amplified when the drink is tasted alongside a delectable dessert item. Yowza. That being said, this whiskey is certainly good enough to enjoy without going out and getting a carton of sugarnut ice cream. Some have remarked on Rittenhouse’s unusually fruity notes. I guess I can see why they’d say that, but, to my palate, the flavors are pretty on par for a barely-legal rye. It’s spicy and aromatic, but it’s also got a decent amount of corniness and malt backbone which all combine to create a harmonious (albeit slightly ambiguous) whiskey experience. The extra proof offered by this BiB whiskey is certainly appreciated and duly noted. It’s not smooth. It’s zesty and fiery. I’m perfectly fine with that because the flavors carry over quite well. I haven’t tried this in a cocktail, but I suspect it will make a killer old fashioned. It’s certainly affordable enough to mix, but definitely still interesting enough to enjoy neat.