Here’s another interesting extra sample that found its way to me- via Paul, with our fourth round of distillery samples. It’s a somewhat local, craft distillery in Michigan. Grand Traverse Islay Rye whiskey is an homage to Scottish Islay peated, single malts. I believe they used 20% peated barley in the blend in hopes to offer up a smoky version of a rye whiskey. This comes in at 90 proof (45% ABV), is non-chill filtered and has no artificial color added (of course). It’s a shiny, new penny copper in the glass and based on the numerous water droplets that formed after spinning the Glencairn- the cask strength must’ve been pretty high and needed to be seriously cut with water just to get it down to 45%. The nose is so wacky: obviously there is plenty of oak spices, rye bread and pepper. The part that really threw me for a loop was the crazy, dill pickle brine that just shocked my system and made me a bit wary to move in for a sip, lol. There was an underlying earthy note here, too and that made me ponder what I think may have happened here. More on that below... Thankfully the pickle brine did not make an appearance on the tongue, at all. I think I would’ve gagged had that been this dram’s opening statement. Instead, it was all traditional rye whiskey notes: pepper, cinnamon, and raw oak. The mouthfeel was somewhat oily, which is something I don’t expect with a rye. The finish was all oak and rye bread, while being pleasantly hot and mouthwatering. It was medium in length and lingered for a bit. My theory- and that’s all that this is- is that the Islay barley may not have been dried using kiln-fired peat, but I’m thinking that it was just that the barley was grown in the peated soil. There was no smoke to speak of so that supports my theory, while if it was grown in peated soil that explains the earthiness found on the nose. Or hell, maybe the guys at the distillery just spilled a bottle of vinegar into the bottling line, haha. It’s hard to give this one a proper score. The taste and finish were typical rye, but that nose is so weird. I’m not a big fan of rye whiskey in general, so my score is naturally gonna be a bit low. Thanks again, Paul. It was an interesting addition to say the least. Lol, cheers.