Rossville Union Straight Rye

Almost impossible to find in my area, scoring the only bottle of this at a random little mom and pop liquor store was quite the coup. Let’s dive in: Nose of fresh cut grass, ginger, herbs, eucalyptus, dill, honey Graham cracker, pepper, and buttered biscuit. Palate features honey, mint, white pepper, and what I would call “cooking spices”, meaning thyme, basil, sage, and rosemary. Make no mistake this sucker is no 51% “Kentucky Rye”; herbaceous to the core without straying into medicine territory (no small feat) Flavors pop to the point that this one punches above its weight class. Finish is a surprisingly long blast of hot rye spice and cinnamon, morphing into cooling menthol. Mouthfeel is grainy. Being a fan of herbal ryes this one hit the right notes for me. Nothing that moves the earth here, just really good MGP 95/5 rye. You can tell that MGP saved some of the best stuff for themselves, as this is easily distinguishable from the ubiquitous expressions that flood the market under different labels. At $42, it’s a win and a rebuy.

Yes! Good spice that stays. Light clean vanilla that lingers. Good for sipping straight. Will want to try a dram in a Christmas beverage or two.

N: Faint caramel P: Vanilla and spice all the way through F: Medium length with a nice char

An absolutely delicious expression from the good folks at MGP. This packs a well rounded dram of spice, vanilla & barrel char and though it surely can do it all - I reserve it for neat pours.

Minty, smooth, mildly sweet