Russell's Reserve Single Barrel Rye

I prefer it with a little water. It has a peppery bite with pleasant rye flavor. Vanilla, oak, tobacco. This is on the milder side of ryes, but it's accessible and easy to drink at any time. Because the rye flavor is a bit milder, there is a lot of subtlety that emerges behind it that would otherwise be overpowered. There is a cracking-fresh cereal grain flavor and some mellow barrel char in the finish, that might be easily overpowered by the rye. I feel like it needs to breathe a bit before all the flavors really come out, but it's enjoyable when they do. It's a really pleasant slow sipping whiskey. I've had better ryes at the same price point(though most are hard to find), but none were this easy to kick back and relax with on a Sunday afternoon.

Very smooth rye.

Long finish of spice with a swizzle of butterscotch. Very nice

Pulled this out again as I decided to have a Rye blind tasting. The 3 comps were Michter's Barrel Strength, Rosseville Union Barrel Proof, and EHT Straight Rye. All sampled neat. This one stood out as my favorite hands down tonight. So rich, so full, so flavorful. In company with the other three very highly appreciated ryes, I am upping my 4.25 to 4.5 because of that. It is just damned good rye.