Catoctin Creek Hot Honey Rye

The Nose kicks off with a blast of butter, honey, and wheat toast. The honey and butter bleeds into the initial Palate, quickly replacing the wheat toast profile with a Rye Bread profile. The Palate is the best part of this drink, with a perfect blend mimicking a hot buttery piece of toast in the morning drizzled in honey that is not artificial but completely natural in flavoring. Following this delightful Palate, the Finish is strong on cinammon and Rye but with the short length of it, this minty conclusion doesn’t overstay its welcome. Overall a solid sweet and spicy “flavored” whiskey that is a solid natural break away from the syrupy and artificial flavoring you get from most mass market flavored whiskeys.

Capsule review from Virginia Spirits Expo: Honey finishes are all the rage right now, but Catoctin says this is the Original Hot Honey Rye. A combination of three Virginia honey and an infusion of chili peppers is used to create this finished whiskey. Honey is all over the nose, palate, but the finish is where the peppers come in. It's less like a spicy hot wing and more like a Nashville hot chicken- a nice peppery but not firey finish. While this is certainly something different- it's not exactly a regular sipper for me.