Stellum Rye

"Serpens" pick 58.12% abv; 116.24 proof Received 2 oz sample from a friend Nose - Pine needles, mint, eucalyptus, butterscotch, honeysuckle, clove, light oak, and strong ethanol. Palate - Spiced orange, delicate honeysuckle and flowers, white sugar, sweet cereal grain, clove, allspice, pine sap, and mint. Finish is medium-long with cloying, oily rye bread, toffee, hot cinnamon mint, pine, and medium ethanol. This pick is significantly better than the standard Stellum Rye. The standard version is mediocre for the money, there are tons of ryes in that price range that are better. The original is all spice and heat without complexity or sweetness. This has more baking spice and floral sweet notes. If you can find a store pick, I say go for it.

Great spice and nose.

There's not as much of a story behind this one as there often is with the whiskies I buy. It's not particularly an event whisky. I like Rye. This one's cask strength, made by the same people who make Barrell, and in Jersey, where I spied it, it was $46.99 which makes it the cheapest cask strength rye I've found (and that's also a tad below MSRP I believe). That said, it isn't as good as Alberta Premium Cask Strength. Nor is it as good as Wild Turkey Rare Breed Rye. Nor is it as good as Sagamore Spirit Single Barrel Select Barrel Proof. Nor is it as good as either of the Knob Creek Single Barrels I've tasted. And the main reason it's not as good isn't because it's bad, but because it lacks the complexity of those other high-proof ryes. What it has going for it is that neither the nose nor the palate smell or drink like a rye of 116 proof. In fact, side-by-side, it's maybe a bit more strong than the Russell's Reserve 6, which is the only other rye I have open, but not by much. In other words, it's much gentler than its proof would speak of. But I mentioned lack of complexity. Not necessarily a bad thing, as this is still strong in the flavors it offers (sometimes songs with just three chords can still be amazing songs), which are mostly spearmint and rye spice, maybe a bit of clove and cinnamon. It's like an alcoholic stick of Wrigley's on the nose with the mint being prominent, whereas on the palate, the rye takes over and the mint takes a backseat. There's a nice moderate finish of cloves. And overall, I'm certainly not regretting paying $47 for this bottle. I'll put it to good use. But it's not necessarily one to go out of your way to purchase, and it's certainly not something to overspend on. Honestly, it's got a certain evergreen quality, maybe a little pine running through it, refreshing like that pine tree air freshener I used to beat against the dashboard of my friend Pete's 84 Ford Escort to make the car smell less like four teenage boys and antifreeze. And it's not a bad dram for the holiday and my end-of-year vacation. Tonight I've put on National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, so that's what I'll be doing for the next hour and a half, sipping Stellum Rye, watching Chevy Chase act like a fool. All-in-all, not a bad way to spend and evening. Now let's just hope I don't spill it and fall asleep. I don't want to wake up hearing, "Why is the carpet all wet, Todd?" and have to respond: "I don't know, Margot!" Now let's try it on ice.