It’s December 11, and I’m going to try a new rye whiskey every day this month. And while my rye game is not as weak as my Scotch game was this time last year, I’m always up for suggestions on good rye whiskies. And now that I have goals (it’s good to have goals), there are some key players I could use your help finding. Send me your most intense contender. Goals (abridged): 5 ryes. 4.5 stars. Readily available. (2/5, WT101, Whistlepig 10) I want to recognize the difference between any bourbon and any rye. First try. One of these must be an Empire Rye. I want a raunchy rye. I want the one that tastes worse than WTMK 17 BiB. The blue box. Sorry WT, y’all should be ashamed. >>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<< This rye is a blend of 9-11 year old ryes. 11. It counts. Nose is fantastic. Not a lot going on, but it’s delicious. Sugar, caramel, sour apple. Rose petals? I could sniff this all day. I’m fact reckon I will. See y’all tomorrow. Edit: Just kidding. Body is absurdly smooth. If you’ve ever had one of those that you can let roll off down the back of your tongue, enjoying every note, this is like that. The notes from the nose come in full swing on the body. I can get the apple, the sugar. Caramel is less prevalent, but there’s definitely a milk chocolate note. Perfect. Finish is also surprisingly gentle. It buzzes the lips for sure, but the flavors are low in heat. Mild cinnamon. Mild rye. That juicy apple mouth feel is lingering on. Golden delicious. That rose note comes back as a mild mint. Love it. This is phenomenal. WTMK has had some duds. Looking at you blue. But this is perfection. I genuinely can’t find fault with it. I could say it lacks complexity, and that would be true. But when you do anything this well, I don’t need a dozen different notes. I’m enjoying the ones I have. Unfortunately, I don’t think this qualifies as “readily available,” so I’ll have to sip slowly on this little guy.