Jack Daniel’s Rye is the Tennessee distiller’s fourth rye expression in recent years, and utilizes a nice fairly high rye percentage of 70% in the mashbill. While there is no formal age statement, word on the street is around 4 to 5 years, and it is also filtered in the traditional Jack process through maple charcoal. And have to give JD credit in actually producing their own rye product in house, instead of sourcing from MGP which is very common these days from NDPs. Enjoyed neat in a Glencairn, no added water. The nose is immediate and strong and certainly unlike other traditional ryes I’ve tasted. In all honesty, at first it reminded me of something familiar but I couldn’t place it right away. Reminded me of a more traditional bourbon actually, and more specifically I think it smells very close to one of my very favorites, Wild Turkey 101. I think the reason is that the nose on JD Rye is giving off lots of sweet fruitiness for me, and specifically cherry dominate but also a backnote of typical JD banana, mixed with vanilla and pepper spice, and an undernote of charred oak to round it out. There might be a touch of eucalyptus in there too, which is the only nod to traditional rye I could pick out. Minus the little hint of banana, this is almost the exact profile of the Wild Turkey 101 nose, which for me is also cherry syrup heavy, spice, vanilla, and oak. The JD Rye smells like a bourbon! But I think the similarity ends here. Palate is medium bodied and doesn’t really coat the mouth. It is, for a brief moment, initially somewhat sweet but quickly turns a bittery tart. You are greeted with a pretty high peppery bite with a little warmth that wakes the taste buds for sure and warms the chest going down, with the rest of the taste being pretty tart. Some fruity and slightly herbal flavor is present with a backnote of alcohol graininess and oak. Also this is a very very drying sip leaving the mouth puckered. Given the sweetness and familiarity of flavor on the nose, the palate is anything but familiar here. Strange really, but not unenjoyable. Finish is medium length and fruity, almost peachy like, with notes of honey, vanilla, lingering pepper, and light toasty barrel char all fading in and out at random. The more the palate adjusts to the flavors, the toasty oak barrel becomes more prominent and pretty nice. Also dry and astringent on the finish. Overall, not bad or unenjoyable per se, but a very unique rye profile. Nothing about the JD Rye is like any other rye I’ve tried, save for the high pepper notes, which dominate this expression. I’ll say this one is worth a try before you commit to a $30 bottle. At the very least, grab the $2 trial vial on the shelf and give it a go, you might be surprised at this unique rye from JD! Cheers!