The Gospel Straight Rye Whiskey

Dan Murphy’s International Whisky tasting night. Previously I had tasted the Gospel Solera Rye (distiller whisky taste #70 3.5/5) at another Dan Murphys tasting night. As is standard for my local store, tastings are blind. The nose on this instantly revealed itself to me as a gospel rye, I remembered this profile well from eight months ago. N: Thick, leathery rye and stewed plum that turns oily. Hints of mintyness, and slightly tannic with brown sugar. P: Very spice forward with a pepper heavy profile. Oily, and with a biscuity vanilla. Dark and caramelly. A little boring perhaps, which is surprising for so much rye spice. F: Short-medium. Minty-menthol freshness. Rye spice is a little cloying. Final orange spritz. Nose, very similar to the solera rye but leaning towards a oily and minty nose in the straight versus a more toffee and oozy solar. The palate is less inviting and enveloping here in the straight versus the solera and doesn’t grip me quite so well. The finish is less complex and less fragrant than the solera. Overall the straight and the solera are very similar, but if memory and my notes serve, the solera has more character and more to discover. This surprises me as the straight is notably more expensive than the solera (AUD 94.99 vs 79.99). In anywise, want Australian rye? Stick to Archie Rose Malted Rye. Distiller whisky taste #175 The Gospel Solera Rye: 3.5/5 The Gospel Straight Rye: 3.25/5

Rating: 19/23 N: Sweet with interesting spices. It's kind of like one of those Christmas ribbon spice candies, but with more interesting faint herbal and vegetal character. This is shockingly nuanced and a delight to nose. Hints of orange peel, but sweet and light. White corn. The vegetal smells fortunately don't come across as rotting or otherwise unpleasant. It smells youthful, but not in a bad way. This is already a smashing success. I hope that the palate is at least somewhere near as good as the nose. P: Light and approachable for sure, with an interesting sweetness that highlights the grain in a way that reminds me of Sierra Norte, but is less challenging. This tastes youthful, but elegantly balanced. I certainly get that ribbon spice candy in here. The herbal flavor is here and is interesting, bringing in some mint that I didn't get on the nose. A hint of spearmint even, but it isn't bad. Some increased clove gives this a little bit more woody tannin. F: The ribbon spice candy lingers for a long time, along with a bit of orange peel, and hints of rye herbs. - Conclusion - This is a really surprising whiskey. It's totally unusual, with some odd flavors, yet it's quite in balance. It's light yet decadent, with youthful flavors meeting mature mellowness. It's good and it's unique and I would love to have a bottle. WhistlePig PiggyBack (16/23) is bolder with some similar flavors, but it's less mature, balanced, and nuanced. This is clearly the better of the two drams. I'm thinking no lower than an 18 and it could be a 20. Old Forester Rye (15/23) has similar complexity, but it's a bit more forceful with less maturity. They're fairly close, but I think I continually underrate that Old Forester by a large margin. These two are fairly close, but I might lean toward this one a bit. Sierra Norte Red Corn (15/23) is way funkier and more challenging than this is. Belle Meade Cask Strength Reserve (18-19/23) is bolder and more aggressive than this is, but it has a lot of spicy nuance to it. Honestly, I think that this might be slightly better. I'm actually getting old Willett vibes off of this. Well, I've had "old" Willett (I think it was 6 years) and it tasted nothing like this; however, this tastes to me a fair amount like a Willett rye that has had some extra time to mellow out and been brought down in proof. Everyone's favorite Willett Family Estate 4 (15/23) is muddled, blunt, and bitter in comparison to this. I'm going with a 19, but I could believe anything in the 17 to 20 range. This was a really surprisingly good find. Thanks for sharing @soonershrink !

Coming back to this one after I opened it a couple weeks back. It has really opened up now. Distinct rye nose to it with a dusty character that I actually love. Rich and perfectly integrated spirit and cask. Really enjoyed this neat. Will also have a shot at using it in mixed drinks. But for now, neat is perfect.

[over ice] tl;dr - straight or as a mixer much better than on ice. smells of apple juice, taste is quite flattened, goes from quite sweet, spiced apple juice straight to alcohol burn without much in between.