Took a flyer on another $40 rye. This particular single barrel is 116.4 proof, aged 5 years, and the sticker says hand-selected by Thirst Wine Merchants. I'm not a fan of the language used to describe where this comes from. I'm fairly certain it's sourced, but the label says "distilled in Tennessee and bottled by..." I initially bought this thinking they were the distiller. The spirit itself has a very fruit forward nose and palate, similar to the last rye I tried, the Smooth Ambler Contradiction Rye. Apple and peach are prominent, the peach always nice to find in a whiskey. A little rye herbal spice shows up on the finish. This has a stronger herbal rye spice than the barely legal ryes, but it's not an herbal powerhouse. Overall, I like this, and don't want to nitpick, but there's a somewhat unpleasant note of what comes to me as new carpet on the nose, and an aftertaste that I liken to that of Diet Pepsi. The artificial sweetener aftertaste is something I note in ryes occasionally, but it's particularly noticed here. I appreciate the higher proof and it doesn't seem all that hot considering the proof, but I prefer the Contradiction, which is also a hair cheaper, so this is not likely a re-buy for me. *Also, this doesn't compete with Pikesville at the same price range and same ballpark for proof. *Update: after some initial "off gassing," I'm no longer picking up any new carpet smell, but still getting a little of the diet soda note on the finish. I'm pretty pleased with this - giving it a quarter point bump. Update 2: spending more time with this, there's a little something on the back end that reminds me of Willett 4 year. This has more caramel and vanilla up front, but the fruit and finish share some similarity with Willett. I'd take back some of what I said above, but I'll leave it up for posterity's sake. Maybe one day I'll learn to wait before reviewing, although there's also something to be said for demonstrating how a whiskey and one's impression of it can evolve over the course of a bottle. I don't want to get ahead of myself (more) since I have a lot left in this bottle, but this may in fact be a re-buy.