It’s December 21, 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 want a dank rye. I want the one that tastes like failing a final exam that was so hard, the curve ends up boosting your grade to an A anyway. In other words, I want to suffer but retain my dignity. >>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<< Nose is strawberry, sugar, lemon, oak. Bit of dust. Bit of formaldehyde. Very reminiscent of Old Forrester 1920. Body has walnuts, latex, strawberry jam, vanilla, spruce, salt. Dill. Leather. Orange. Finish is extremely long, and it works here. It’s cinnamon, sugar, hint of strawberry. That rubber flavor comes back as the final aftertaste, and that’s unfortunate. If you can mentally mute the industrial notes (formaldehyde nose, latex body, rubber finish) what’s left is genuinely enjoyable. I find it hard to do that, especially if I’m focusing on other things, which limits the role this rye will have in my life.