Very Olde St. Nick Cask Strength Summer Rye Whiskey

Rating: 19/23 N: Quite full and rich! Orange peel, orange, mint, light caramel, various other herbs, faint maple, some oiliness. The faintest creosote. This is a really promising nose. I'm looking forward to drinking this rye, despite my prior disappointments with Very Old St. Nick. P: Rich and spicy, with some sweetness and maturity. It's a big, bold toasted sweetness, with vanilla, and slightly overcooked caramel providing a faint char. The spices bite quite a bit, but they don't burn a ton. They mix nicely with the bitter herbs, including some mint. The spices come across as pepper, ginger, clove, and cinnamon. I also get some nice oily richness that makes me think of an oloroso finish. It does muddle the flavors a bit though. I'm really digging this palate. It's very tasty, with big, bold flavors, yet quite little alcohol. F: Rich toasty wood, orange, vanilla, spices. Decadent and long-lasting, though certainly not as distinct at this point. Hints of bitter herbs. - Conclusion - This is a delight. I was not expecting much after the prior two Very Old St. Nick ryes I tried, but this one knocked it out of the park. We aren't talking perfection here, but this is easily one of the best ryes I've had. The clean, herbal, spicy complexity balances with the sweet decadence so nicely. Whistlepig PiggyBack (16/23) has more herbal funk, is more muddled, and is less sweet. This really stands above it. This is has more of a bourbon sweetness to it, but it's a whole lot better regardless. Dad's Hat Cask Strength (19/23) has way more creosote and bitter herbal complexity going on. The Dad's Hat still has plenty of sweetness, but it's playing a different game than this is. Both are quite hedonistic and they're close in quality. If I had to pick one, I'd pick the Dad's Hat, but it's on the high side of a 19, so I'm thinking an 18 to 19 for this. I'm landing on an 18 because there's some alcohol now that I wasn't getting before. It's just not quite a 19. Eh, it could be a 19. This is right in that range. Coming back to this, I'm finding that it is well on parr with Russell's Reserve Single Barrel (18-19/23) and is similarly competitive with Belle Meade Cask Strength Reserve (18-19/23). Of the three, I'd give this a slight win, but I don't think that its muddled flavors are pulling past a 19. I'm finding Smoke Wagon Uncut Unfiltered (18/23) to be very competitive with this. It's a high 18 though and taste a bit younger than this does. I think that oloroso fruit and nuttiness pulls this up to a 19. It's flawed, but excellent. What a turn-around after those couple of underwhelming age-stated releases! Thanks, @Milliardo , for providing this fun flight :)

Ordered a glass at a restaurant. I was expecting something smoother for the price; pretty complex, with a good amount of rye spice on the front. Made it tough for me to pick out more notes because the front end was rough. Now when I added a splash of water... Things for better. I got all those cherry wood and baked apple flavors others mentioned.

The nose is like maple syrup! Sweet and so smooth and unique

Fleshy fruits. Apples, honey, pears, and mild baking spices.