geologyjane
Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Rye
Rye — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed
February 11, 2020 (edited May 13, 2020)
This is a “not a bottle kill” review for Michter’s US*1 Single Barrel Straight Rye which I am finally writing up at bottle kill. Woohoo - 3 bottles killed so far in 2020, this means I can open up something new, right?
Mash Bill: Undisclosed (and sourcing unknown)
Age: NAS
ABV: 42.4%
Barrel No.: 17L1580 (2017, yes? I guess I found a dusty bottle?)
Price: $35.99 (this has now crept up to $40-$50 in my area)
I know this is a Single Barrel release, but I get a fairly different profile compared to the Distiller chart.
Nose: Mild and delicate, light and floral. Spearmint, star jasmine, honeysuckle, and vanilla. Sweet, light honey. Faint spice and some citrus like underripe orange.
Palate: This really doesn’t exhibit “rich and full-bodied” to me. On the contrary, it’s light, thin, and a bit watery. Sweetly floral and mildly spicy, with malty, lightly buttered bread, hay, black licorice, and a bit of mint leaves. The light fruitiness on the nose doesn’t transfer much but you do get some tartness.
Finish: Medium length and even, but still light (watery). Honeysuckle and honey sweetness, with black licorice fading out.
Verdict: Light. Floral. Mildly fruity and spicy. Pikesville Straight Rye really takes this dram to task, and since a repeat buy would set me back $50+ (w/tax) this bottle will not be rotating back in for some time. I give it a point over Michter’s Small Batch Bourbon. A decent dram but poor VFM these days.
3.5 ~ 81 ~ Above Average
36.0
USD
per
Bottle
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@Scott_E yeah—the 10yr rye was less than the Ardbeg 19. For me, deciding between the two, it was Michter’s 10 rye over the Ardbeg 19
@PBMichiganWolverine - yep, $50/pour is silly. I think they’ve figured out that bottles of the 10 yr are impossible to find in the wild and the only alternative is an expensive bar pour. I haven’t fallen for it yet. @Scott_E - their American whiskey is also on my wish list to check out. After my Scotch spending spree last year, I’ve slowed up on purchases, particularly American whiskies. Maybe I can find a reasonable bar pour of that...
@Slainte-Mhath - Agreed, I told myself I wasn’t allowed to open any more bottles until I whittled away at those that were already open. I’ve almost finished a 4th bottle so now I’m debating opening something else up or continuing my mission to clean up the shelf. I peaked at around 25 open bottles so I had to get that number down to limit oxidation, particularly for bourbons and ryes.
@PBMichiganWolverine That’s speaks impressively to the strides being made in American whiskey making. I assume they are priced relatively equally, correct? It also points out that this 10 year has a market (unfortunately not mine, not yet).
@Scott_E @geologyjane. I had the 10yr rye at @Richard-ModernDrinking’s place over a tasting. It bested the Ardbeg 19 in that lineup. After that tasting, immediately bought a bottle
@geologyjane @PBMichiganWolverine I haven’t had the 10, which sounds great but overpriced. However their American Whiskey bottling I found to be quite nice.
@geologyjane Funny that, I have an open bottle rotation of about 10 bottles, and whenever I want to open something new, I try to push myself to finish an old bottle first. Most people will probably open as much as they want, but I want to avoid that open bottles pile up, let alone to leave too much oxygen in a bottle for a long time.
@geologyjane $50/pour on the 10 is silly. You can get a full bottle for 3-4 pours worth of it
@PBMichiganWolverine - yeah if I could find a reasonably priced pour I would give it a try. I think there’s a place that offers it for ~$50 which is probably why I haven’t splurged for it yet. You had it at a tasting?
You gotta try Michter’s 10 yr rye...I’m not a fan of these other Michter’s, but the 10yr rye is amazing. Pricey, so a bar pour is the way to go