It’s December 19, 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. (3/5, WT101, Whistlepig 10, Whistlepig 12) 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 rye that you have to suffer through. I want the one that tastes like being hungover at an indoor heated swimming pool full of screaming children. >>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<< @PBMichiganWolverine was kind enough to recommend an empire rye (McKenzie), which I’m sure would’ve been brilliant if I could have found it. The only one I found from New York was this guy, and I bought it without knowing enough about empire ryes to even know if distillation location was enough to make this guy qualify. Turns out: no. I’m not sure which standard this whiskey fails, but if I had to guess, I’d say it’s the 75% New York grown rye. Taconic mentions that they use New York grains (you have to use 75% New York grains to conform to the New York Farm Distiller requirement) but it might not be enough New York rye to qualify. I’ll keep hunting for a true empire rye, and if I find one, I’ll do a full run down of the requirements then. Nose is marshmallow, yeast, lemon, apricot. Mint. Body is orange marmalade. Super sweet. Great flavor. Bit of marshmallow here as well. Sweet tea. Powdered sugar. Finish has a nitrous whipped cream thing going on. There’s milk chocolate. This finish is truly unique. This is tasty. It’s a bit too sweet to be a favorite of mine or something I could drink every day, but it’s a solid product that I would never turn down. If you’re into the jelly-sweet side of whiskey, this is something you have to try at some point. They did a good job here.