Russell's Reserve 6 Year Rye

Rye, baking spices, vanilla some alcohol on the nose. Oily mouth feel with sweet rye on the pallet. More rye on the finish balanced with sugary seeetness, little to no burn and a very very short finish at that. Nicely balanced and approachable but I think I personally prefer more spice out of my rye. Nevertheless it's a nice value and I'll likely be buying again.

Neat: straight forward and not too sweet…like it at the price point In a Manhattan: prefer other ryes, can’t place why

Quite nice. Not quite up there with some other rye that i've had. But It is a great buy at $35

N: Caramel deeply colored by sage, tarragon, green grass, and rosemary, some lemon and vanilla, mint, medicinal herbs, splash of ethanol. P: Sweet caramel, vanilla, bread, dash of wood, menthol, green grain, butterscotch, nicely rounded but anonymous sweet flavors, touch of salt, touch of char, seaweed(?), dried leaves, tree bark, hint of petrichor. F: Menthol - almost like a Vick's VapoRub, but not that strong - char, spice, cinnamon, oak, earth, grass, caramel, and vanilla. I feel like there are two types of rye out there: 1) the Christmas spiced rye (like Old Overholt BIB and the Knob Creek ryes), which I tend to really like, and 2) the green grain, herbal, minty, menthol, eucalyptus type of rye, which I tend to at least kinda dislike if not openly hate. The nose on this feels like the epitome of the herbal rye whiskey. And I dig it. It's balanced - showcases the herbal notes without going too far down that rabbit hole. The palate is a bit more of a mix with the caramel and sweet notes up front and the herbs and grass in the back. I can live with that. There's no doubt this is a well-crafted whiskey, as really all RRs are. If I were ever in the mood for drinking a grassy whiskey, this would be my choice. I can't imagine being in that mood though. If you, however, like that grassy, green, earthy, herbal rye, this will be your jam. I have no doubt. ____________ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord (now one whole year old!): https://discord.gg/VSmCvzAQfH. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired (it shouldn't be), please post a comment and I will gladly provide a new one.)