LouisianaLonghorn
Whistlepig 10 Year Small Batch Rye
Rye — (bottled in) Vermont, Canada
Reviewed
April 30, 2020 (edited June 11, 2020)
I was excited to find a taster of this at Total Wine the other day. Usually these "premium" products don't debase themselves with miniatures. Those of you who've read my reviews know I'm not a huge fan of American Rye, but that I don't mind Canadian Rye, which makes up at least a portion of this blend. What shall we find?
The nose is shy. Leans more in the Canadian direction than American. A bit dusty, some spice, vanilla and butterscotch. I stuck my nose all the way in the glass and other than a "screw you that's not how you nose whisky" burst of ethanol, I can't divine much else. On the palate, it enters smooth and gentle. The mid-palate has a burst of rye spice and some heat too. It does not drink like a 50 proof dram. Repeated tastes give off more of a coating mouthfeel, some tobacco, a puff of smoke, and the slightest hint of barrel bitter.
I'm amazed at how smooth and approachable this dram is. There's some masterful blending going on here (this was a Dave Pickerel project [RIP], so I'm not surprised. I also wouldn't be surprised if there's whisky older than 10 years in this blend, which would certainly justify the high price for a bottle). The finish is quite long and luxurious, with some more caramel and butterscotch. A fine sipping rye, but I can also see it playing well in cocktails against more sour and bitter elements.
So what to say. I want to give this a 4 based on the nosing and tasting, but the retails at around $80, which is about $40-$50 more than I'm willing to pay for rye, and I don't even like rye most of the time. This is a beautiful whisky, and I would not say no if someone offered it to me. There's some older Canadian Rye in here for sure with how easy this is to drink. Most rye's I drink fight back, even Lot 40 (which is a more complex AND more affordable rye IMO). If it weren't for the price, it would be 4, but factoring the exorbitant price, I'm gonna have to go 3.75. I know some of you who read are big rye fans, and should definitely seek this one out to sip. If you're more of a casual rye drinker, or a "fine, if I have to" rye drinker like me, then go for something more affordable like Lot 40 or Canadian Club 100% Rye. Cheers!
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@jsk and @dubz480 thanks for the heads up. I’ll keep my eyes open. I’m sure something will show up in Austin.
Agree with @dubz480, the store picks are the way to go. Cask strength and often quite a bit older than 10 yrs (We've had picks in Houston that were 12,13, even 15 yrs old). IMHO the cask strength picks are a decent value compared to the rest of the market for aged rye.
Nice Review... the store picks are where it's at with WhistlePig... they are a significant improvement over the underwhelming batch product... often they don't even carry a premium.
@WhiskeyLonghorn thats true—-lots of folks buying it, since they’ve grown in operations quite a bit.
@PBMichiganWolverine somebody must keep buying it if they feel like they can sell it at that price. At that point it’s more economics than whisky...$80 can get you a lot of nice things, but I suppose if one is into rye...
The piggy back will be less money and more geared to bourbon guys. Pikesville is the best reasonably priced imo
Your experience and reaction was very similar to mine. I'm often not enamoured with rye whiskeys, and the ones I like are often oddballs, like Balcones. But this is indeed a beautiful dram - delicate, even. But I've so far resisted it because of the price.
I always found Whistlepig more expensive than what it offers. Some of their stuff goes well over $400