Ezra Brooks 90 Proof Straight Rye

Appearance: The color in this rye whiskey is a beautiful dark caramel color. Thin very viscous legs cling to the glass interior like a mynock clings to a Corellian freighter. Nose: The nose begins with a sweet greeting that quickly fades into more dominant notes of licorice, brown sugar, and Nilla Wafers. After letting it breathe a bit a note of leather, and a smell similar to that of walking through a damp forest enter in as well. By adding a splash of water the complexity dies and a boring sweeter note takes over. Taste: The palate starts with Whoppers chocolate malt ball candy, followed by cereal grains, and a cherry note ending with some heat and spice. There is a rich oily body in the whiskey, but the taste starts off great and to me it then seems to drop and dissipate. Like going down a seemingly exhilarating slide then reaching the bottom way too soon. (I like their creative addition of charcoal filter/mellowing however that may have stripped some of the flavor from the whiskey.) Adding a splash of water, like with the nose, tones down what little variety was present and leaves behind just the familiar rye spiciness. Finish: The finish starts with a hot bite at first, but then it transitions into a pleasant downhill ride into a medium long almost malty finish. Thoughts: From my experience so far, this a really nice rye and whiskey in general. The higher proof does it justice and adding water definitely makes it boring. Though the palate could use a few more fireworks in my opinion, this is a phenomenal whiskey for the price! I do recommend it, and wouldn’t mind buying it again. Luxco, thanks for your quality Ezra Brooks whiskeys! Cheers!

Due to the rye boom just beginning, there really are no bargain bottom shelf ryes out there. A quick search of Total Wine shows that there are only 3 reputable ryes they sell under $20. This, WT 81 proof, and old overholt. I haven't tried the others, but the 90 proof separates Ezra Brooks from the other two in a positive way. 24 months old and sourced from MGP, why not. Don't listen to distiller, the mashbill is 51% rye not 95%. Nose: lot of mint and green herbs, with punchy ethanol and tinge of sweet. Palate: Good rye spice bite on the tongue, and no clear ethanol burn which is suprising for a 2 year old spirit. Sweet tangy fruit (cherry, peach) show up without much caramel or vanilla. Definitely get the rye aspect of the mashbill, without much of the traditional barrel aspects showing up. Some pepper and cinnamon of course too. Finish: tangy rye, not quite bitter, but drying and herbaceous. Some spice, and a tiny bit of fleeting vanilla. Verdict: This is nice at $15. Definitely not as good as Ezra Brooks bourbon, which is even cheaper and even tastier. But, compared to other whiskies (rye and bourbon) at the under $15 price range, it competes with the best (OGD 100, EW BiB, VOB 100, etc) in terms of quality. Because there aren't many other cheap ryes, it's hard to compare apples to apples. But as a cheap barely legal rye, this does everything you expect a bottom shelf whiskey to do, and then some. Not a big rye guy, and not much of a rye palate, so I can't give that last quarter star with confidence. Certified buy for a party or gift, maybe not for a collection.

Neat in a glencairn. Golden yellow-orange hue with surprising viscosity and some legs. The nose confirms the 51% rye + high corn mash (Distiller entry is wrong - not LDI rye, it's one of the newer MGP rye bills). Gentle and sweet with prominent apple juice, a splash of maple syrup, some dusty cereal grain chaff, and dried chili pepper. Herbal tones stay on the periphery. Mild but approachable. The palate is a bit more demanding and punchy up front, but not harsh, and then mellows nicely with a lasting sweetness. Creamy but muted on the tongue, the flavors hide until after the swallow. A few fumes and a flash of heat way in the back, then toasted sugar, honey, and bitter grapefruit peel. Stewed apples. Surprised when it occurred to me, but shares some kinship with a number of blended Scotches, albeit with a few things turned up to 11 (this is a young rye, after all, and unabashedly American despite trying to make my point with a Spinal Tap reference about a British metal band). I like this. It cost me $11. I like this A LOT for $11. Thank you Lux Row & MGP. Rittenhouse, Sazerac, or Old Fo' Rye are incremental upgrades, mostly in complexity and a touch of proof, but they are an additional 10 to 20 bones. I like this better than more $30-$40 bottles (that I own!) than I'd care to admit. An easy entry into the VFM knockout rounds at that price.

I'd heard that this was a sleeper, and I finally decided to pick up a bottle and find out for myself. This was tasted neat from a glencairn. The nose is classic rye whiskey. It's reminiscent of a Christmas fruit cake. There's a bit of cherry, a little bit of pine, a touch of dill, the slightest tint of mint, and a faint note of ethanol. On the taste buds this is quite tame, but has a number of discreet flavors discernible, typical of a rye. They can be very fruity and this one follows suit. There is the aforementioned dill, rye, a bit of spice, some cherry, a little touch of menthol. This is a 90 proof whiskey, so it's pretty approachable. It drinks actually less than that. This is quite tame but nicely flavored. I am astonished at how good it is considering its price is under $13 a bottle in my local market. I'm going to recommend it based on value for money alone, but this could stand as a reasonably good rye against almost any of the popular mixers out there that sell for nearly twice the price. I made a Butchertown cocktail with this and it was quite tasty. The rye stood up to the Amontillado and Cointreau quite well. This is a bargain mixer and is good enough to enjoy by itself as a sipper.

I had some money left on a Wine.com gift card — but not enough for a mid-range priced bottle (shipping and tax wiped out the balance!). So... I searched within a very limited price range, and then came here to read reviews on the handful at my disposal. Ezra Brooks Straight Rye was the winner... As I've become a little more "knowledgeable" about bourbon, rye, etc., I can, at the very least, tell the age of a whiskey. This is a 2-year old rye, and it tastes like it. Very young, and it looks young, too. Light golden color. Not much going on, but by no means awful. It's sweeter than what I would expect from a young rye. Of course, it's spicy as you'd expect. I was out earlier this evening with coworkers, and I had Rabbit Hole Rye — which is one of my favorite ryes that I've had so far. The difference between the two is like night and day. I don't mean to trash this stuff. It's just one of those, "not bad, not great" pours. For the price, I'd say it's "good". You could do worse if you're on a tight budget but need a decent sipper. I will not buy again, but I would drink it again if offered to me.

Nose: Rye bread, dill, black licorice, clove, and if you close your eyes and try really hard you can pick up the faintest hint of vanilla. Neat: salty and savory, light oak astringency, a jolt of black pepper spice, and if you close your eyes and try really hard you can pick up the faintest hint of vanilla. Finishes slightly astringent with a clingy coating of the black pepper spice. Despite the clingy finish, overall the mouthfeel is relatively thin. Splash: adds a touch of sweetness and calms the mid palate jolt of spice. Verdict? This one needs more time in the barrel to impart some sweetness. While not the biggest fan of MGP's 95/5 ryes, I do enjoy several of them (Bulleit, Dickel and James Pepper). This one is only saved from a 2 star rating by its sub-$20 price tag. I do feel that this one will more than suffice as a mixer. If I want a 95/5 that I can drink neat, I'll chip in the extra $5-$10 and get the Dickel, Pepper or Bulleit...or simply opt for a bottle of Rittenhouse.