It’s December 20, 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 favorite, readily-available rye. 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’ve been asking for an intense rye. One that has the “essence of rye” dial turned up to 11. The community seems to like this whiskey. I think it‘s nasty. Nasty with my respect though, not like that VOSN 7 year abomination. Is this my nasty rye??? Let me know what you think. >>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<< Nose is brine, honeysuckle, sugar. Dill. Cut grass. Smells like my preconception of what a rye should smell like. Body is pear, dill, gummy bears. Salt. Apricot. Finish is grape jelly. More salt. Dry and savory. I feel like I just ate a full bag of pretzels. If I had to describe this whiskey with one word: salt. This is too intense, and I can’t say it’s the better for it. It’s just so damn salty. My tongue feels shriveled. It’s honestly hard to enjoy. I don’t know if this counts as an intense rye, because my experience with finished whiskies leads me to believe that the finish is the problem here, not the rye. I’d be interested to know if I’m wrong. In your opinion, is this intensity due to the fact that this is a rye or due to the finishing process?