Rating: 16/23 N: Fairly full and woody, but mellow. There's some nice pear and apple rounding it out with mild vanilla sitting in the background. Some dry tartness and sharp spiciness for sure, as would be expected of a rye. Not an amazing nose, but it's nicely balanced with good scents. P: Not quite as full as the nose suggested. There's plenty of wood, which gives way to bitterness, but also spice with some musty nuance. And some minerals mix in as well with a little bit of vanilla sweetness. That dry rye character is certainly here as well. This is nicely balanced. It might be a bit too tannic and not quite as full as I'd like, but there's enough complexity to keep it going and it nails a nice traditional profile.Faint caramel and a sort of hollow apple flavor at points. F: Tannins, wood, spice. A bit of vanilla and hollow apple come with a gulp of air. This is finish is a tad too austere. - Conclusion - This is a well-executed rye. It leans a bit too heavily into the wood and doesn't develop as much as I'd like, but it's quite enjoyable. It lacks the elegance of Whistlepig Piggyback (16-17/23), but it's quite enjoyable. It's certainly closer to that than it is to my bottle of Smooth Ambler Old Scout Single Barrel Cask Strength 4 year (14/23). It's definitely a 15 or 16 and while I was initially thinking a 15, it's closer to my fresh(ish) bottle of Whistlepig PiggyBack than I'd expected, so a 16 is a very real possibility. I'm inclined to say that because its tannins are less aggressive than those of George Dickel Single Barrel 15 (15/23), this is the better whiskey and it deserves a 16. Big thanks for sharing this one @ctbeck11 ! Catoctin Creek has done a great job here. Definitely a distillery to watch.