Sazerac Rye

$28 - Michigan. Nose (Neat): Medium alcohol, light smoke, slight leather, warm vanilla, burnt sugar and a touch of fresh baked vienna bread. Palate (Neat): Medium burn going down. Vanilla, light smoke, slightly sweet, spice and some floral notes. I prefer to have this one on ice to soften the burn. It is also great in any whiskey based mixed drink. Definitely worth the price in my humble opinion.

Unique nose with high alcohol, rye, cinnamon and burnt sugar. Neat you get BIG spice. Enters spicy and oaky with a mild sweetness. Fall spices transition to mild vanilla and lingering oak and spice on the finish. A couple cubes turn the sweet up just a notch with a light cocoa note on the finish. Made a great old fashioned. The oak and spice really stand up to the bitters. Not quite as complex as Rittenhouse, but I will always pick up a bottle on the rare occasion that I see it.

Great for manhattan's and the go to for the namesake drink (really cuts through the absinthe/st. germain), this year's bottling feels a bit thin to drink on its own, I like a bit more spice and would probably go with rittenhouse on the lower end of the scale. but still a great rye.